Crimson Eyes and a Bloody Heart
by It's Raining Blood And Tears
Summary: Under her mask, she's haunted by her past. She tries to forget him, but fails. Filled with regret, he wants her back, but will she betray Konoha just for him? 18 years have passed since their birth, but it's still only the beginning of what's to come.
1. Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I do not own the anime Naruto, though I really wish I could. But guess what? I own Risa, and Obito (not Kakashi's teammate), and anybody else who's name you don't recognize.**

**A/N: Hey everybody. This is one of my first fanfictions. Hope you like it.**

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**Crimson Eyes and a Blood Heart (Itachi Love Story)**

CH 1

Risa's POV

I was taking a walk that night, like I usually do. But that night was different, totally different from the rest of the nights. I felt that something was going to happen, something terrible. Of course, I had no idea what was going to happen, until I went into the Uchiha compound. I've been living with the Uchihas for quite some time. I don't know my past, I don't remember a thing. How did I get to Konoha? Why was I found during the war? Urgh. Those thoughts bothered me. But I didn't care.

As I passed through the houses, I noticed that it was extremely quiet, a little too quiet for my liking. I noticed that all the lights were off, and they don't usually sleep that early, right? Of course I'm right. I'm usually always right about things, but sometimes, HE makes me think about things in a different way, a way that I usually wouldn't think in. And by HE, I mean Uchiha Itachi. What can I say? I love him. And you can say that he loved me back, too. Well, at least I hoped so.

"R-Risa-chan..." A voice brought me back into reality. I looked down to see my teammate, Obito (haha, named after Kakashi's teammate), lying on the ground, almost dead because of the loss of blood. I ran over to him and started to heal him. There was blood all over his body. I was scared, because nobody has ever hurt Obito like this before. And I mean nobody when I say nobody.

"Risa-chan... Don't waste your chakra on me..." he managed to say between gasps of pain.

"But-"

"Risa-chan... Please... don't..."

I sighed. There was nothing I could do to change his mind. "W-What happened here? Who did this to you?! I swear, I'm gonna kick their ass!"

"A-Are you sure you want to know?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

He sighed. "It was... Itachi..."

My eyes widened in surprise. "I-Itachi? He would never do this!!" I fell to my knees.

"That's what I thought, until..." he sighed and pointed to himself.

"No, no!! That can't be true!!" I yelled. Just then, Sasuke came running out from one of the streets. I looked up. "S-Sasuke! What happened?!"

Just then, a shadow appeared at the end of the street. "Itachi..." I murmured to myself. "Sasuke, please take Obito's body and leave this place." I looked at Obito one last time. "Goodbye..." Sasuke didn't need to be told twice. He picked up Obito, and stumbled a few times, and dragged him out of the horrifying scene. I suddenly became aware of my surroundings, there were dead bodies all over the ground, and houses were ruined. I looked up at Itachi.

"Risa, please listen to me."

"No, you listen to me. I don't want to know why you did this, and I don't care, either. But if you're planning to leave Konoha, I'm going to stop you. I've already lost one of my teammates, and I'm not going to lose another. I'd rather die in the process of trying to stop you than see you betray Konoha!!" I saw the pain in Itachi's eyes, but I didn't stop. Scratch that. I couldn't stop. The words just came out, just like the tears from my eyes. "You're just going to leave and betray this village? The village that we grew up in? Are you? Well, guess what?! Go ahead and leave this place!! But before you go, just know that you're betraying me!!" I let all the tears out, the tears that I've been holding back while making my little speech.

"Risa, please, listen to me." Itachi pleaded. I didn't. Why should I listen to him? He should just go away and leave me, just like he was planning to do from the beginning. "Fine, if you're not going to listen to me, then..." He stopped, and I suddenly felt his fingers lifting my chin up. I looked into his eyes. I was lost in the darkness of his onyx eyes. They were so deep and dark, just like him, sometimes... Suddenly, I felt his lips crashing down onto mine. I was so overwhelmed by what happened to the Uchiha clan and Obito that I didn't have the energy to fight back. Suddenly, he pulled away. "Gomen, Risa, but I really have to go."

"But-"

"I love you, Risa." Then, he left. I was shocked. He left so suddenly. The tears came out harder then ever.

"I-I love you, too, Itachi." I whispered, hoping that wherever he went, he would always know that.

"And because I love you, I have to kill you." Itachi's voice sounded in my head. Suddenly, I was in a totally different place. Itachi was standing there with a katana in his hand, in his fighting stance, and ready to kill me. I screamed and tried to move, but I was tied against a tree by a rope. I saw Itachi running closer to me. My eyes were opened wide in fear. He jumped and brought the katana slashing down...

I sat up, breathing hard. It was just a dream, just a dream, I kept telling myself. Or a nightmare. I looked at the clock on my desk. It was only 3 in the morning. I lay back down on my bed. How long has it been since he left me? A couple of years has passed since that day. I realized that if I kept thinking of those things, I would never fall asleep again. So I let my body take over, and I soon fell into a deep sleep, with no murderous Itachis haunting me.

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**A/N: Please review if you want me to post up more, and give me good, hard criticism. **


	2. A Mission

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. However, I do own Risa and I'm going to make her torture the other characters.**

**A/N: Thanks to everybody who read and reviewed. I'm not going to post as much from July 28 to August 17 because I'm going to be in China to perform. But, I'll try to get as much posted as I can. Enjoy!**

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**Crimson Eyes and a Bloody Heart**

CH 2

The next morning, I woke up to the call of a messenger eagle. I sat up sleepily and looked out the window. The messenger eagle was signaling me to go to Tsunade's office. 'What does she want with me so early in the morning?'

"Risa!! I'm going to go training!!" I heard Sasuke yell from downstairs.

"Okay. Be back by 6!!" I heard Sasuke close the door. He's been training a lot lately. And I'm pretty sure it's because he wants to kill Itachi. Like I would care if that happened. Right? I sighed. It's been years since that day, the day that still haunts me at night.

I heard Sasuke slam the door after him. I looked at the clock. It was 8:30 in the morning. Sasuke's been acting weirdly lately. He was completely different when I came back from my mission in the Hidden Village of the Star. Nobody would tell me what happened. It was right after the 3rd Hokage's death when I had to leave for my mission. When I got back 3 weeks later, Tsunade was the new Hokage, and Sasuke was intent on training even harder.

I hurriedly put my clothes on and transported myself to the Hokage's office. Tsunade was working at her desk. She seemed to be really focused. I coughed loudly to announce that I was here. Tsunade looked up and blinked a few times in surprise. "Ah, Risa. You're finally here. Risa, I want you to train Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai's teams today. The jonins are all out on a mission."

"Ah? All 12 of them?" This is gonna be hard.

"Oh, and some Sand ninjas are coming over today."

"EH?! Don't tell me I have to guide them, too!"

"Gomen, gomen."

I sighed. "Fine, fine. But you owe me one, ane."

"Whadya mean by 'you owe me one'? It's a mission!!"

"Yeah, one you don't want to do yourself." I murmured to myself.

"What did you say?!"

"Ehehe. Nothing, nothing." I sighed again. This is going to be a long day. I put my ANBU mask on. "I'll be leaving now." I bowed respectively to Tsunade before transporting myself outside and starting to look for the 12 genins who I was suppose to train as my 'mission'. I found Naruto sitting at Ichiraku ramen, digging through his pockets to see if he had any money with him.

"Ah-ha!" Naruto pulled out his froggy wallet, but before he could do anything else, I dragged him out by his ear. "Risa-san?"

"Naruto, Tsunade-sama has a mission for you, and 11 other genins." I decided not to tell him that it was actually my mission. Hey, Tsunade's my adopted sister, and I'm just like her, making others do the work I should be doing. So, we went along to find the other 11 genins. We found Neji and Hinata in the Hyuuga compound; Choji and Shikamaru in a random BBQ restaurant; Ino was in her family's flower shop; Sakura in the library; and the rest: TenTen, Lee, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, and Sasuke in the forest, training. After explaining to them all about their mission, we went to the front gate to wait for the arrival of the Sand ninjas. I hope that it would be my siblings. I haven't seen them in a long time. Well, actually, ever since the Chuunin exams.

"Well, let's see. Since your teachers are gone, I'm gonna give you something to do."  
They all looked at me curiously. "You guys," I pointed to all of them, "are going to guide the Sand ninjas around Konoha while I go relax and do what I want to do." I smiled while they stared at me in horror.

"The Sand ninjas are strong. What if they attack us?" Sakura asked as I stared at her.

"Simple. You all die." Sakura stared at me with her eyes wide open.

"Don't worry, Sakura-san. I'll protect you with my life." Lee did his 'nice-guy' pose.

"Of course we will. Believe it!"

I smiled. Naruto sure is one unique ninja. Suddenly, I felt a great amount of chakra coming this way. "They're coming." I wonder which Sand ninjas were coming.

"Hey! Look!" Naruto pointed out to the dark specks a few miles away from Konoha. "Do you think it's the Sand ninjas?"

"Nah, probably not." I lied to Naruto. "It's probably some group of ninjas coming to attack a certain person who's name starts with a 'N'." Some of them glanced at me, and I smirked back. They knew that I was lying, but Naruto didn't.

"Don't worry, Neji, I'm going to protect you and make sure you don't get hurt!"

"That's the power of youth, Naruto-kun!" Neji glared at Naruto and Lee.

A few minutes later, the outlines of the ninjas became clearer and clearer. Naruto and Lee prepared to attack if the ninjas start attacking Neji. The rest of us ignored them as they started coming up with strategies. I sighed. They are so gullible. Suddenly, I noticed the ninjas coming towards us were gone. I smirked. I knew where they were, but the others didn't.

"Where did they go?!" Naruto yelled out all of a sudden. The others looked out and saw that it was true that the ninjas dissappeared. Naruto started running around in circles, yelling, "Where did they go?! Where did they go?!"

I quickly caught him and covered his mouth with my hand to silence him. "Shut up, Naruto. Unless you want to get yourself killed, shut up!!" I hissed at him. He gulped and looked at me confusedly, wondering what I meant. I took my hand away from Naruto's mouth and straightened myself up. "Come out. I know you're there." The other ninjas glanced at me, wondering how I knew where they were. I smirked. "You guys aren't coming out, eh?" I mummured under my breath. Suddenly I threw a kunai into the bushes. They jumped out, surprised. I smirked. It was my siblings: Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. "Hey, how's it going?" I greeted them.

"Fine," Temari answered for all of them. Gaara nodded once in agreement while Kankuro smiled.

"Just the three of you?" I asked. They nodded. "Well, that's perfectly fine." And with that, I started putting the Leaf ninjas into groups of four. "Lee, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke go with Gaara. Kiba and Akamaru, Chouji, TenTen, and Shino go with Kankuro. And Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, and Hinata, go with Temari." I smiled. "Now, go and spend the day with your guest. Later. I'll be spying on you, to make sure you're keeping them contented." I shooed them off and smiled proudly at all of them.

Now, time to deal with the ninja who was spying on us the whole entire time. "Come out, whoever you are." The mysterious guy stepped out from behind the shadows...

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**A/N: Thanks for reading. Please rate and review. Give me good, hard criticism that'll make me cry. Jkjk. No, really, I'm serious. Good, hard criticism.**


	3. Jiraiya! What now?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. But I do own Risa, and she's allowed to beat people up and destroy bars, right?**

**A/N: Thanks to everybody who read the first 2 chapters!! And I seriously hope you people out there will review. Enjoy!!**

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"Just the three of you?" I asked. They nodded. "Well, that's perfectly fine." And with that, I started putting the Leaf ninjas into groups of four. "Lee, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke go with Gaara. Kiba and Akamaru, Chouji, TenTen, and Shino go with Kankuro. And Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, and Hinata, go with Temari." I smiled. "Now, go and spend the day with your guest. Later. I'll be spying on you, to make sure you're keeping them contented." I shooed them off and smiled proudly at all of them.

Now, time to deal with the ninja who was spying on us the whole entire time. "Come out, whoever you are." The mysterious guy stepped out from behind the shadows...

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CH 3

The guy stepped out of the shadows while I secretly took out a shuriken just in case he was going to attack me. I was surprised at who it was.

"Jiraiya?! What were you doing, spying on us?!" He should've just showed himself instead of hiding there behind the trees.

He coughed a few times and smirked. "Well, you know... I needed to talk to you... so..."

"So, why didn't you come out and say so? You know that I would've let them go off on their own." I sighed. "Whatever. What do you want to tell me? Hurry up. I have a mission to complete."

"Follow me." Jiraiya started walking into the village. I sighed again and started following him. Knowing him, he was probably going to get a bottle of sake before he tells me anything.

As I predicted, Jiraiya went into a bar and called for a bottle of sake. "What the fuck do you want to talk to me about?! I have things to do myself! I'm not going to spend my time waiting here for you to finish that bottle of sake. And plus, you're just going to get more."

Jiraiya looked at me quizically. "Since when did you become so impatient?"

"Since now." I retorted.

"A shinobi needs to be patient. Be more patient."

He was getting me pissed off. I breathed in and tried to calm myself down. If I get angry, the bar's going to get destroyed, and Tsunade's not going to like that.

_Flashback_

_"Hurry up, Jiraiya. I don't have all day!" I was sitting in a bar with Jiraiya, waiting for him to finish up his bottle of sake, which seemed like forever. He was going to tell me something, and I needed to go on a mission Tsunade sent me on._

_"Just let me finish the bottle!" Jiraiya said while waving the bottle around._

_"And how long is that going to take?" I felt the anger arouse in me. "You said that about 10 minutes ago!"_

_"Be patient, Risa. A shinobi needs to be patient."_

_I glared at Jiraiya. "You expect me to be patient, when I've been sitting here, waiting for you to finish drinking you're sake?! Dmn! You come to me and tell me that you have something important to tell me, and I've been here sitting for about half an hour, waiting for you to say something! And you're telling me that I have to be patient?! Are you kidding me?!"_

_Next thing I knew, I was in the Hokage's office, being scolded for ruining one of the best bars in the Leaf village._

_"Risa! You know better than that!"_

_"Hmph!" I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. This was gonna take awhile._

_"You destroy the bar and broke a few of Jiraiya's ribs! You-"_

_"He deserved it. And about the bar, who cares? Only you and Jiraiya. Basically everything circles around sake. Sake this, sake that. I'm tired of it. And what do you expect? I was at my house, preparing for a mission, when all of a sudden, Jiriaya pops up and says that he has something to tell me. I go with him to the bar, and he drinks for about half an hour. I tell him to hurry up, and guess what? He tells ME to be PATIENT. I got pissed, and boom, the bar is destroyed."_

_"RISA!! You don't go destroying bars because you get pissed by Jiraiya!" Tsunade's glare was piercing through me. I opened my eyes and glared right back at her. So, this was a staring contest, wasn't it? Well, let's see how long she lasts. I smirked._

_3 Hours Later_

_"ARGH!! I GIVE UP!! DMN YOU, RISA!!"_

_End Flashback_

"Jiraiya," I sighed. "Don't make me break your bones once again."

Jiraiya looked at me, then to the bottle of sake, then closed his eyes. "Fine, fine, fine. Let's go somewhere else."

I got up and stretched myself. "Finally." I began to walk out of the bar, leaving Jiraiya to pay the bill himself. Not like I care if he runs out of money or not.

At last, we got to the top of the Hokage's cliff. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

I looked down on the village. I waited for a few moments, but I heard no answer from the semi-drunk guy standing nest to me.

"Don't tell me you forgot what you were going to tell me." I looked up at Jiraiya. He was staring at the outskirts of the village, a look of seriousness plastered on his face. I've never seen him this serious before. To be truthful, I felt a little... afraid.

"Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki? The group of S-ranked ninjas?" He questioned me.

"Was it the group who tried to capture Naruto when I was on a mission?"

"Yeah, them. I was thinking, maybe you should keep an eye on Sasuke."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with him."

"One of the members in the Akatsuki who came for Naruto is Itachi... that's why."

I tensed at the sound of his name.

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**A/N: Please review!! I'm sorry that my stories are so short, but I just find a really good place to stop, and I stop there. If you want them to be longer, please tell me.**


	4. The Note

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Though if I did, I would be a millionaire right now.**

**A/N: Hey, everybody. I hope you enjoy this one. This is where the main plot starts coming in. Hope you enjoy!!**

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"Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki? The group of S-ranked ninjas?" He questioned me.

"Was it the group who tried to capture Naruto when I was on a mission?"

"Yeah, them. I was thinking, maybe you should keep an eye on Sasuke."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with him."

"One of the members in the Akatsuki who came for Naruto is Itachi... that's why."

I tensed at the sound of his name.

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CH 4

"I see... So you want me to keep an eye on Sasuke because you think he's going to..." I struggled for the right words.

"Try and kill Itachi."

I blinked and stared at the man standing next to me. "So, you're suggesting that I talk Sasuke out of avenging his clan? You know, that's not going to happen."

"No, Risa. That's not what I mean. I just want you to make sure he doesn't over train himself." I nodded once, trying to comprehend his words.

I could tell that Jiraiya wasn't saying what he really meant, and that got me mad. Jiraiya got lucky this time. If I didn't calm myself down in time, I would've punched him until he reached the brink of death. I looked at Jiraiya out of the corner of my eye. He was staring down at the village where everything was calm and peaceful after Orochimaru's latest attack.

"Jiraiya," I said softly. I needed him to do something for me.

"Hm? What is it?"

"What about Naruto? Are you going to keep your eye on him? 'Cause I can't watch two at the same time."

Jiraiya looked at me. "Well, I'll tell you the truth. I'm planning to take Naruto outside of the village to train him, so when the time comes, he'll be ready."

"I see..." I should've known that Jiraiya would think of these things earlier and plan ahead. He's just like that. "Well, anything else you want to say? I'm sort of busy today." I crossed my arms and looked at Jiraiya from the side of my eye.

"Nope. That's all." I nodded once and left with a POOF. Now, to continue my mission from Tsunade. I quickly tracked down the group with Kankuro. Kiba and Akamaru, Chouji, TenTen, and Shino seemed to be doing just fine with Kankuro. Ok, so maybe not TenTen because Kankuro kept hitting on her, but other than that it was okay. Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, and Hinata were getting along perfectly with Temari, especially the girls. Lastly, I went to find my youngest brother, Gaara. Well, let's just say that I heard them before I saw them. I could hear Lee and Naruto arguing while Sakura was telling them to be quiet. Sasuke and Gaara were in the background trying to ignore the idiots that were yelling loud enough that the whole world could hear. I sighed and quietly watched them from my hiding place. They seemed to be having some sort of fight. I saw Sasuke and Gaara make their way away from them and closer to the center of the village. Lee, Naruto, and Sakura didnt seem to notice them take their leave. I sighed. Who should I follow now? This group seemed to be the one with the most problems. I made a shadow clone and sent it off to spy on Gaara and Sasuke while I dealt with Naruto, Lee, and Sakura.

I stepped out from the shadows and walked over to them. They didn't seem to notice me at all. I stood behind them and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Bushy-brows!! We're going into the forest!!"

"No!! We're going to the center of the village, right Sakura-chan?"

"We're going to where Gaara-kun wants to go!! So both of you shut up!!"

"But Sakura-chan, I-"

"SHUT UP!!"

I glared down at the yellow haired ninja in front of me and started tapping my feet. All three of them gulped and turned their head around slowly to face me. "I was aware that your mission was to show Gaara the village, not to argue like little kids and not know that two of your team members have left this place." I glared down at them. "You will learn how to work together and to carry out your mission effectively and to not cause any problems. Do you understand me?" They nodded their heads. "Good. Now, go and find your teammates before I decide to punish you for all the precious time you have wasted." They ran off before I could say anything else. I sighed and smiled to myself. They were smart, young ninjas, and I was proud of them. Though they did seem to have a problem with teamwork.

I found my way to where my clone was watching Sasuke and Gaara. The silence didn't seem to bother any of them, so I guess they were getting along fine enough. My clone silently disappeared in a cloud of smoke as I continued to spy on them. I heard Naruto, Lee, and Sakura coming and I quickly hid myself in the shadows and spied on them. They seemed to be doing okay. I sighed. Today was so boring.

A few minutes later, I decided to leave and go home to do whatever I needed to do. I left my hiding spot and started walking towards my house. When I got inside, I took my shoes off and walked to my bedroom. I plopped onto my bed and put my hands under my head and closed my eyes.

Peck, peck.

I opened one of my eyes when I heard something pecking my window. I sat up and saw a falcon tapping my window. I quickly got up and opened the window to allow the falcon to fly in. I noticed that there was a note attached to its neck. I quickly untied the note and read it.

_Risa, the jonins are being attacked by the Sound. Orochimaru is with them. Go to the battlefield ASAP. They need your help.  
_

_Tsunade_

I sat up. 'What? Orochimaru?!' I growled under my breath as I set the falcon free. My eyes narrowed into slits as I got ready to leave Konoha and prepared for battle. I left Konoha as quickly and as possible and soon, I tracked down the path the jonins took, and I soon, I found the battle field.

I landed on the ground and looked around. There were Leaf and Sound ninjas' bodies scattered everywhere. I narrowed my eyes as I searched for Orochimaru. I found him battling with Kakashi and Gai.

"Orochimaru..." I snarled under my breath as I walked over to them.

"Ah, my dear Risa. And here I thought that you'd never come." Orochimaru smirked evilly.

"Risa?!" Kakashi turned around when he heard Orochimaru say my name. "Thank goodness you're here."

"Yeah. I thought that Hokage-sama forgot all about us." Gai managed to get out between his pants. They were both sweating from the battle.

"Orochimaru. What do you want?" I walked over to stand by Kakashi and Gai's side.

"What do I want? You should know that by now, Risa."

I glared at him as I braced myself for any attack that would come from that snake bstard, Orochimaru. "Unfortunately, I have no clue what you're talking about. You seem to think that I do know, when I truly don't."

"Well, then, dear Risa. Let me tell you. You deserve to know the two things that I want,

since you are one of them." I narrowed my eyes as what he said registered in my brain.

"I will never go with the likes of you."

Orochimaru smirked. "That's what you think. Anyways, I'm also looking forward to retrieving my new container."

"Container?"

"Yes. And do you know who that would be?"

I growled in response. "Stay away from him, Orochimaru, you fcking bstard. He won't go with you."

"Ah, but he will."

I smirked. "Think what you like. But know this, Sasuke will never go with you."

Orochimaru laughed. "You'll see who's right, Risa. Let's go!"

My eyes opened wide in surprise as four Sound ninjas came out of nowhere. I hadn't noticed their presence. Kakashi and Gai seemed surprised, too. I assume that they were just on the sidelines, watching, in case they needed to interfere. Orochimaru and the four Sound ninjas jumped back into the trees and left.

I turned to the two exhausted jonins behind me. "You guys okay?"

They nodded. "Good. Now, help me get the injured back to the hospital. We can't just wait for the medics to come help us."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

We picked up the bodies of unconscious Leaf ninjas and started moving towards Konoha. I let Kakashi and Gai go ahead of me as I felt the presence of a powerful ninja nearby. When Kakashi and Gai got out of hearing and sight, a kunai flew towards me from somewhere in the forest. I bent down and saw a note attached to it. I ripped the note off and read it.

_Four shinobi siblings,  
From the village of Sand.  
The eldest, an angel,  
With her wings and delicate hands.  
The youngest, a demon,  
With trails of blood in his wake.  
The middle two children,  
Will help their powers awake._

I narrowed my eyes and felt the presence disappear. Who sent this note to me? And what does it mean?

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**A/N: Thanks for reading!! Please review!! Oh, and I wrote the poem all by myself. Aren't you proud of me? Of course you are!!**


	5. A Visit From The Sand Siblings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. However, I do own Risa and I'm going to make her torture the other characters.**

**A/N: Thanks to everybody who read and reviewed. I'm not going to post as much from July 28 to August 17 because I'm going to be in China to perform. But, I'll try to get as much posted as I can. Enjoy!**

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**Crimson Eyes and a Bloody Heart**

CH 2

The next morning, I woke up to the call of a messenger eagle. I sat up sleepily and looked out the window. The messenger eagle was signaling me to go to Tsunade's office. 'What does she want with me so early in the morning?'

"Risa!! I'm going to go training!!" I heard Sasuke yell from downstairs.

"Okay. Be back by 6!!" I heard Sasuke close the door. He's been training a lot lately. And I'm pretty sure it's because he wants to kill Itachi. Like I would care if that happened. Right? I sighed. It's been years since that day, the day that still haunts me at night.

I heard Sasuke slam the door after him. I looked at the clock. It was 8:30 in the morning. Sasuke's been acting weirdly lately. He was completely different when I came back from my mission in the Hidden Village of the Star. Nobody would tell me what happened. It was right after the 3rd Hokage's death when I had to leave for my mission. When I got back 3 weeks later, Tsunade was the new Hokage, and Sasuke was intent on training even harder.

I hurriedly put my clothes on and transported myself to the Hokage's office. Tsunade was working at her desk. She seemed to be really focused. I coughed loudly to announce that I was here. Tsunade looked up and blinked a few times in surprise. "Ah, Risa. You're finally here. Risa, I want you to train Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai's teams today. The jonins are all out on a mission."

"Ah? All 12 of them?" This is gonna be hard.

"Oh, and some Sand ninjas are coming over today."

"EH?! Don't tell me I have to guide them, too!"

"Gomen, gomen."

I sighed. "Fine, fine. But you owe me one, ane."

"Whadya mean by 'you owe me one'? It's a mission!!"

"Yeah, one you don't want to do yourself." I murmured to myself.

"What did you say?!"

"Ehehe. Nothing, nothing." I sighed again. This is going to be a long day. I put my ANBU mask on. "I'll be leaving now." I bowed respectively to Tsunade before transporting myself outside and starting to look for the 12 genins who I was suppose to train as my 'mission'. I found Naruto sitting at Ichiraku ramen, digging through his pockets to see if he had any money with him.

"Ah-ha!" Naruto pulled out his froggy wallet, but before he could do anything else, I dragged him out by his ear. "Risa-san?"

"Naruto, Tsunade-sama has a mission for you, and 11 other genins." I decided not to tell him that it was actually my mission. Hey, Tsunade's my adopted sister, and I'm just like her, making others do the work I should be doing. So, we went along to find the other 11 genins. We found Neji and Hinata in the Hyuuga compound; Choji and Shikamaru in a random BBQ restaurant; Ino was in her family's flower shop; Sakura in the library; and the rest: TenTen, Lee, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, and Sasuke in the forest, training. After explaining to them all about their mission, we went to the front gate to wait for the arrival of the Sand ninjas. I hope that it would be my siblings. I haven't seen them in a long time. Well, actually, ever since the Chuunin exams.

"Well, let's see. Since your teachers are gone, I'm gonna give you something to do."  
They all looked at me curiously. "You guys," I pointed to all of them, "are going to guide the Sand ninjas around Konoha while I go relax and do what I want to do." I smiled while they stared at me in horror.

"The Sand ninjas are strong. What if they attack us?" Sakura asked as I stared at her.

"Simple. You all die." Sakura stared at me with her eyes wide open.

"Don't worry, Sakura-san. I'll protect you with my life." Lee did his 'nice-guy' pose.

"Of course we will. Believe it!"

I smiled. Naruto sure is one unique ninja. Suddenly, I felt a great amount of chakra coming this way. "They're coming." I wonder which Sand ninjas were coming.

"Hey! Look!" Naruto pointed out to the dark specks a few miles away from Konoha. "Do you think it's the Sand ninjas?"

"Nah, probably not." I lied to Naruto. "It's probably some group of ninjas coming to attack a certain person who's name starts with a 'N'." Some of them glanced at me, and I smirked back. They knew that I was lying, but Naruto didn't.

"Don't worry, Neji, I'm going to protect you and make sure you don't get hurt!"

"That's the power of youth, Naruto-kun!" Neji glared at Naruto and Lee.

A few minutes later, the outlines of the ninjas became clearer and clearer. Naruto and Lee prepared to attack if the ninjas start attacking Neji. The rest of us ignored them as they started coming up with strategies. I sighed. They are so gullible. Suddenly, I noticed the ninjas coming towards us were gone. I smirked. I knew where they were, but the others didn't.

"Where did they go?!" Naruto yelled out all of a sudden. The others looked out and saw that it was true that the ninjas dissappeared. Naruto started running around in circles, yelling, "Where did they go?! Where did they go?!"

I quickly caught him and covered his mouth with my hand to silence him. "Shut up, Naruto. Unless you want to get yourself killed, shut up!!" I hissed at him. He gulped and looked at me confusedly, wondering what I meant. I took my hand away from Naruto's mouth and straightened myself up. "Come out. I know you're there." The other ninjas glanced at me, wondering how I knew where they were. I smirked. "You guys aren't coming out, eh?" I mummured under my breath. Suddenly I threw a kunai into the bushes. They jumped out, surprised. I smirked. It was my siblings: Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. "Hey, how's it going?" I greeted them.

"Fine," Temari answered for all of them. Gaara nodded once in agreement while Kankuro smiled.

"Just the three of you?" I asked. They nodded. "Well, that's perfectly fine." And with that, I started putting the Leaf ninjas into groups of four. "Lee, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke go with Gaara. Kiba and Akamaru, Chouji, TenTen, and Shino go with Kankuro. And Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, and Hinata, go with Temari." I smiled. "Now, go and spend the day with your guest. Later. I'll be spying on you, to make sure you're keeping them contented." I shooed them off and smiled proudly at all of them.

Now, time to deal with the ninja who was spying on us the whole entire time. "Come out, whoever you are." The mysterious guy stepped out from behind the shadows...

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**A/N: Thanks for reading. Please rate and review. Give me good, hard criticism that'll make me cry. Jkjk. No, really, I'm serious. Good, hard criticism.**


	6. Answers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. But I do own Risa, and she's allowed to beat people up and destroy bars, right?**

**A/N: Thanks to everybody who read the first 2 chapters!! And I seriously hope you people out there will review. Enjoy!!**

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"Just the three of you?" I asked. They nodded. "Well, that's perfectly fine." And with that, I started putting the Leaf ninjas into groups of four. "Lee, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke go with Gaara. Kiba and Akamaru, Chouji, TenTen, and Shino go with Kankuro. And Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, and Hinata, go with Temari." I smiled. "Now, go and spend the day with your guest. Later. I'll be spying on you, to make sure you're keeping them contented." I shooed them off and smiled proudly at all of them.

Now, time to deal with the ninja who was spying on us the whole entire time. "Come out, whoever you are." The mysterious guy stepped out from behind the shadows...

* * *

CH 3

The guy stepped out of the shadows while I secretly took out a shuriken just in case he was going to attack me. I was surprised at who it was.

"Jiraiya?! What were you doing, spying on us?!" He should've just showed himself instead of hiding there behind the trees.

He coughed a few times and smirked. "Well, you know... I needed to talk to you... so..."

"So, why didn't you come out and say so? You know that I would've let them go off on their own." I sighed. "Whatever. What do you want to tell me? Hurry up. I have a mission to complete."

"Follow me." Jiraiya started walking into the village. I sighed again and started following him. Knowing him, he was probably going to get a bottle of sake before he tells me anything.

As I predicted, Jiraiya went into a bar and called for a bottle of sake. "What the fuck do you want to talk to me about?! I have things to do myself! I'm not going to spend my time waiting here for you to finish that bottle of sake. And plus, you're just going to get more."

Jiraiya looked at me quizically. "Since when did you become so impatient?"

"Since now." I retorted.

"A shinobi needs to be patient. Be more patient."

He was getting me pissed off. I breathed in and tried to calm myself down. If I get angry, the bar's going to get destroyed, and Tsunade's not going to like that.

_Flashback_

_"Hurry up, Jiraiya. I don't have all day!" I was sitting in a bar with Jiraiya, waiting for him to finish up his bottle of sake, which seemed like forever. He was going to tell me something, and I needed to go on a mission Tsunade sent me on._

_"Just let me finish the bottle!" Jiraiya said while waving the bottle around._

_"And how long is that going to take?" I felt the anger arouse in me. "You said that about 10 minutes ago!"_

_"Be patient, Risa. A shinobi needs to be patient."_

_I glared at Jiraiya. "You expect me to be patient, when I've been sitting here, waiting for you to finish drinking you're sake?! Dmn! You come to me and tell me that you have something important to tell me, and I've been here sitting for about half an hour, waiting for you to say something! And you're telling me that I have to be patient?! Are you kidding me?!"_

_Next thing I knew, I was in the Hokage's office, being scolded for ruining one of the best bars in the Leaf village._

_"Risa! You know better than that!"_

_"Hmph!" I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. This was gonna take awhile._

_"You destroy the bar and broke a few of Jiraiya's ribs! You-"_

_"He deserved it. And about the bar, who cares? Only you and Jiraiya. Basically everything circles around sake. Sake this, sake that. I'm tired of it. And what do you expect? I was at my house, preparing for a mission, when all of a sudden, Jiriaya pops up and says that he has something to tell me. I go with him to the bar, and he drinks for about half an hour. I tell him to hurry up, and guess what? He tells ME to be PATIENT. I got pissed, and boom, the bar is destroyed."_

_"RISA!! You don't go destroying bars because you get pissed by Jiraiya!" Tsunade's glare was piercing through me. I opened my eyes and glared right back at her. So, this was a staring contest, wasn't it? Well, let's see how long she lasts. I smirked._

_3 Hours Later_

_"ARGH!! I GIVE UP!! DMN YOU, RISA!!"_

_End Flashback_

"Jiraiya," I sighed. "Don't make me break your bones once again."

Jiraiya looked at me, then to the bottle of sake, then closed his eyes. "Fine, fine, fine. Let's go somewhere else."

I got up and stretched myself. "Finally." I began to walk out of the bar, leaving Jiraiya to pay the bill himself. Not like I care if he runs out of money or not.

At last, we got to the top of the Hokage's cliff. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

I looked down on the village. I waited for a few moments, but I heard no answer from the semi-drunk guy standing nest to me.

"Don't tell me you forgot what you were going to tell me." I looked up at Jiraiya. He was staring at the outskirts of the village, a look of seriousness plastered on his face. I've never seen him this serious before. To be truthful, I felt a little... afraid.

"Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki? The group of S-ranked ninjas?" He questioned me.

"Was it the group who tried to capture Naruto when I was on a mission?"

"Yeah, them. I was thinking, maybe you should keep an eye on Sasuke."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with him."

"One of the members in the Akatsuki who came for Naruto is Itachi... that's why."

I tensed at the sound of his name.

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**A/N: Please review!! I'm sorry that my stories are so short, but I just find a really good place to stop, and I stop there. If you want them to be longer, please tell me.**


	7. Encounter

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Though if I did, I would be a millionaire right now.**

**A/N: Hey, everybody. I hope you enjoy this one. This is where the main plot starts coming in. Hope you enjoy!!**

* * *

"Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki? The group of S-ranked ninjas?" He questioned me.

"Was it the group who tried to capture Naruto when I was on a mission?"

"Yeah, them. I was thinking, maybe you should keep an eye on Sasuke."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with him."

"One of the members in the Akatsuki who came for Naruto is Itachi... that's why."

I tensed at the sound of his name.

* * *

CH 4

"I see... So you want me to keep an eye on Sasuke because you think he's going to..." I struggled for the right words.

"Try and kill Itachi."

I blinked and stared at the man standing next to me. "So, you're suggesting that I talk Sasuke out of avenging his clan? You know, that's not going to happen."

"No, Risa. That's not what I mean. I just want you to make sure he doesn't over train himself." I nodded once, trying to comprehend his words.

I could tell that Jiraiya wasn't saying what he really meant, and that got me mad. Jiraiya got lucky this time. If I didn't calm myself down in time, I would've punched him until he reached the brink of death. I looked at Jiraiya out of the corner of my eye. He was staring down at the village where everything was calm and peaceful after Orochimaru's latest attack.

"Jiraiya," I said softly. I needed him to do something for me.

"Hm? What is it?"

"What about Naruto? Are you going to keep your eye on him? 'Cause I can't watch two at the same time."

Jiraiya looked at me. "Well, I'll tell you the truth. I'm planning to take Naruto outside of the village to train him, so when the time comes, he'll be ready."

"I see..." I should've known that Jiraiya would think of these things earlier and plan ahead. He's just like that. "Well, anything else you want to say? I'm sort of busy today." I crossed my arms and looked at Jiraiya from the side of my eye.

"Nope. That's all." I nodded once and left with a POOF. Now, to continue my mission from Tsunade. I quickly tracked down the group with Kankuro. Kiba and Akamaru, Chouji, TenTen, and Shino seemed to be doing just fine with Kankuro. Ok, so maybe not TenTen because Kankuro kept hitting on her, but other than that it was okay. Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, and Hinata were getting along perfectly with Temari, especially the girls. Lastly, I went to find my youngest brother, Gaara. Well, let's just say that I heard them before I saw them. I could hear Lee and Naruto arguing while Sakura was telling them to be quiet. Sasuke and Gaara were in the background trying to ignore the idiots that were yelling loud enough that the whole world could hear. I sighed and quietly watched them from my hiding place. They seemed to be having some sort of fight. I saw Sasuke and Gaara make their way away from them and closer to the center of the village. Lee, Naruto, and Sakura didnt seem to notice them take their leave. I sighed. Who should I follow now? This group seemed to be the one with the most problems. I made a shadow clone and sent it off to spy on Gaara and Sasuke while I dealt with Naruto, Lee, and Sakura.

I stepped out from the shadows and walked over to them. They didn't seem to notice me at all. I stood behind them and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Bushy-brows!! We're going into the forest!!"

"No!! We're going to the center of the village, right Sakura-chan?"

"We're going to where Gaara-kun wants to go!! So both of you shut up!!"

"But Sakura-chan, I-"

"SHUT UP!!"

I glared down at the yellow haired ninja in front of me and started tapping my feet. All three of them gulped and turned their head around slowly to face me. "I was aware that your mission was to show Gaara the village, not to argue like little kids and not know that two of your team members have left this place." I glared down at them. "You will learn how to work together and to carry out your mission effectively and to not cause any problems. Do you understand me?" They nodded their heads. "Good. Now, go and find your teammates before I decide to punish you for all the precious time you have wasted." They ran off before I could say anything else. I sighed and smiled to myself. They were smart, young ninjas, and I was proud of them. Though they did seem to have a problem with teamwork.

I found my way to where my clone was watching Sasuke and Gaara. The silence didn't seem to bother any of them, so I guess they were getting along fine enough. My clone silently disappeared in a cloud of smoke as I continued to spy on them. I heard Naruto, Lee, and Sakura coming and I quickly hid myself in the shadows and spied on them. They seemed to be doing okay. I sighed. Today was so boring.

A few minutes later, I decided to leave and go home to do whatever I needed to do. I left my hiding spot and started walking towards my house. When I got inside, I took my shoes off and walked to my bedroom. I plopped onto my bed and put my hands under my head and closed my eyes.

Peck, peck.

I opened one of my eyes when I heard something pecking my window. I sat up and saw a falcon tapping my window. I quickly got up and opened the window to allow the falcon to fly in. I noticed that there was a note attached to its neck. I quickly untied the note and read it.

_Risa, the jonins are being attacked by the Sound. Orochimaru is with them. Go to the battlefield ASAP. They need your help.  
_

_Tsunade_

I sat up. 'What? Orochimaru?!' I growled under my breath as I set the falcon free. My eyes narrowed into slits as I got ready to leave Konoha and prepared for battle. I left Konoha as quickly and as possible and soon, I tracked down the path the jonins took, and I soon, I found the battle field.

I landed on the ground and looked around. There were Leaf and Sound ninjas' bodies scattered everywhere. I narrowed my eyes as I searched for Orochimaru. I found him battling with Kakashi and Gai.

"Orochimaru..." I snarled under my breath as I walked over to them.

"Ah, my dear Risa. And here I thought that you'd never come." Orochimaru smirked evilly.

"Risa?!" Kakashi turned around when he heard Orochimaru say my name. "Thank goodness you're here."

"Yeah. I thought that Hokage-sama forgot all about us." Gai managed to get out between his pants. They were both sweating from the battle.

"Orochimaru. What do you want?" I walked over to stand by Kakashi and Gai's side.

"What do I want? You should know that by now, Risa."

I glared at him as I braced myself for any attack that would come from that snake bstard, Orochimaru. "Unfortunately, I have no clue what you're talking about. You seem to think that I do know, when I truly don't."

"Well, then, dear Risa. Let me tell you. You deserve to know the two things that I want,

since you are one of them." I narrowed my eyes as what he said registered in my brain.

"I will never go with the likes of you."

Orochimaru smirked. "That's what you think. Anyways, I'm also looking forward to retrieving my new container."

"Container?"

"Yes. And do you know who that would be?"

I growled in response. "Stay away from him, Orochimaru, you fcking bstard. He won't go with you."

"Ah, but he will."

I smirked. "Think what you like. But know this, Sasuke will never go with you."

Orochimaru laughed. "You'll see who's right, Risa. Let's go!"

My eyes opened wide in surprise as four Sound ninjas came out of nowhere. I hadn't noticed their presence. Kakashi and Gai seemed surprised, too. I assume that they were just on the sidelines, watching, in case they needed to interfere. Orochimaru and the four Sound ninjas jumped back into the trees and left.

I turned to the two exhausted jonins behind me. "You guys okay?"

They nodded. "Good. Now, help me get the injured back to the hospital. We can't just wait for the medics to come help us."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

We picked up the bodies of unconscious Leaf ninjas and started moving towards Konoha. I let Kakashi and Gai go ahead of me as I felt the presence of a powerful ninja nearby. When Kakashi and Gai got out of hearing and sight, a kunai flew towards me from somewhere in the forest. I bent down and saw a note attached to it. I ripped the note off and read it.

_Four shinobi siblings,  
From the village of Sand.  
The eldest, an angel,  
With her wings and delicate hands.  
The youngest, a demon,  
With trails of blood in his wake.  
The middle two children,  
Will help their powers awake._

I narrowed my eyes and felt the presence disappear. Who sent this note to me? And what does it mean?

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**A/N: Thanks for reading!! Please review!! Oh, and I wrote the poem all by myself. Aren't you proud of me? Of course you are!!**


	8. The Sound Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: I'm trying to get these chapters posted as soon as possible. So, enjoy!**

* * *

We picked up the bodies of unconscious Leaf ninjas and started moving towards Konoha. I let Kakashi and Gai go ahead of me as I felt the presence of a powerful ninja nearby. When Kakashi and Gai got out of hearing and sight, a kunai flew towards me from somewhere in the forest. I bent down and saw a note attached to it. I ripped the note off and read it.

_Four shinobi siblings,  
From the village of Sand.  
The eldest, an angel,  
With her wings and delicate hands.  
The youngest, a demon,  
With trails of blood in his wake.  
The middle two children,  
Will help their powers awake._

I narrowed my eyes and felt the presence disappear. Who sent this note to me? And what does it mean?

* * *

CH 5

"So, Risa, how did it go?"

"Horrible." I rolled my eyes. Here I was, stuck in the Hokage's office. AGAIN. I hate it when Tsunade makes me the one to report on what happened. I mean, seriously. She should make Kakashi or Gai do that. They were the ones sent on the mission, but seeing the state that they were in, I guess she couldn't do that.

Tsunade glared at me. "Risa, I need a more specific answer."

"Battle, dead and wounded ninjas, Orochimaru, sound ninjas. How specific can I get? You basically already know the details. You're just torturing me by making me stay here and questioning me about things you already know, just so I can't go visit that ones in the hospital." I rolled my eyes and sighed.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at me. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

I stared at her, letting no expression whatsoever show on my face. "What are you talking about?"

"You're usually not like this. You usually give a detailed report and then leave. But today, you seem like you're in a bad mood and you want to leave to go to the hospital to check on the others, which I highly doubt you'll do when you leave this place." Tsunade said as she leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms on her chest.

I blinked a few times. How does she know me so well? **Well, maybe it's because she's the one who brought you up.** I know that. **Yeah, you knew that.** I'm freaking serious. It's like she can read my mind. I mean, I'm not showing any emotions, so how does she know what's going on? **Dude, she's like, your sister.** I know that, too! Great, now I'm arguing with myself. "And? Just because I want to get out of here doesn't mean that something's going on. You jump to conclusions real fast, Tsunade."

"Risa, are you sure there's nothing going on? If there was, you can always tell me."

I sighed. "No. I'm perfectly fine. Can I leave now? I have some things to attend to."

"Fine." Finally, Tsunade dismissed me. I nodded goodbye and transported myself back home. I sat down on my bed and stared at the door, deep in thought.

_Four shinobi siblings,_

_From the village of Sand._

_The eldest, an angel, _

_With her wings and delicate hands._

_The youngest, a demon,_

_With trails of blood in his wake._

_The middle two children,_

_Will help their powers awake._

I kept repeating the contents of the note in my head. What did it mean? Who sent it to me?

I was knocked out of my thoughts when Sasuke came into my room. "Ane? Are you okay? You seem to be in a daze."

Oh great. Just perfect. First Tsunade, then Sasuke. "Yeah, I'm fine. So, what do you want?"

"Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro asked if they could spend some time here. I told them I would ask you to see if you were busy or not."

The sudden realization hit me like a bomb. That was it. I figured it out.

"Ane?"

I looked up at Sasuke again. "Oh, sorry. I was thinking about something. Sure, they can come over."

"Okay. I'll be out training today, and I won't be home for dinner. Kakashi said that he'll treat us to ramen once he got out of the hospital, and it seems like he got out a few minutes ago. Ok?"

I smiled at Sasuke. He was changing, ever since he became a genin. Maybe it was because of Naruto. "Sure. Have fun, and don't overwork yourself."

"Yeah." Sasuke walked out the door.

I laid back down on my bed and closed my eyes and put my hands behind my head. So that was it. I figured it out. It was so obvious. How could I be so dense as to not notice? The answer was right there in front of me the whole entire time. Right there…

I sat back up again. Ah… they're coming over. Can't forget about that. I stood up and stretched before going downstairs and into the kitchen. I better prepare some food for them before they start searching through my kitchen like last time.

_Flashback_

_Bang! Crash!_

_"Kankuro! Look at what you did!!"_

_"Hey! It's not my fault! You're the one who pushed me!!"_

_"I did not! You were the one who was breathing down my neck! It got irritating!"_

_"Well, sorry! If you would've hurried up, this wouldn't have happened!"_

_"Why don't you try looking for something we could eat?! Everything in here needs to be cooked, and you know what happens when I cook!!"_

_"Well, that's your problem. Girls are the ones who are supposed to cook in the family. If you don't know how, you're a failure as a girl!"_

_"Like you're passing as a guy? Look at all the makeup!!"_

_"Hey!! You're the one who suggested it!"_

_"But you're the one who agreed to wearing it! I never said you had to! I just mentioned it and you were all like, 'Okay!'"_

_"I was only three years old back then! What do you expect from a three year old?!"_

_Crash!_

_Silence._

_"Uh-oh…"_

_End Flashback_

I frowned at the memory. My best plates were smashed into pieces. Of course, I made them pay for it, including Gaara, because he could've stopped them, but no, he didn't. All he did was lean against the wall and watched their daily fight. I have to admit, it was sort of interesting. I learned a little something about Kankuro and Temari.

I went through the drawers and found some packs of ramen. I started cooking for three. I wasn't sure if Gaara was going to eat it or not, but I decided to make one for him anyway. A few minutes later, I heard them at the front door.

"I smell ramen."

"Sure you do."

"RAMEN!!"

Bang!

"Kankuro!! Don't break her door!"

"Sorry…"

I chuckled silently to myself. "Come in! The door's opened!" I shouted.

A few seconds later, three Sand ninjas came into the kitchen. Temari was holding Kankuro back by the scruff of his neck. Gaara, as usual, was crossing his arms and looking bored.

"It is ramen!!"

I took out three bowls and dumped the ramen evenly into them. I carried them out to the dining room and placed them on the table. We sat down and Kankuro and Temari began to eat. "Gaara? You're not going to eat?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"No."

"Can I have his ramen then?" Kankuro asked with his mouth full.

"Sure. Help yourself. There's still more in the pot if you want." I crossed my arms against my chest and leaned back on my chair. "So, what brings you 3 here today? You must have some reason for coming." Temari and Kankuro looked up at me in surprise.

"No, we just felt like visiting you. Well, actually, it was Gaara's idea to come here." I looked at Gaara in surprise.

"Is that true, Gaara."

"Hn." He must have some motive for coming here to visit me. He usually never does. There must be something going on.

"I'm going to go for a walk outside. I need some fresh air. Care to join me, Gaara?" Gaara nodded once and we both left the table and went outside. When we got to the edge of the forest near my house, I stopped and leaned against a tree while still facing Gaara. "So? What is it?"

Gaara reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll tied neatly with a red ribbon. He handed it to me silently. I untied the ribbon and unrolled the scroll.

____

_Four shinobi siblings,  
From the village of Sand.  
The eldest, an angel,  
With her wings and delicate hands.  
The youngest, a demon,  
With trails of blood in his wake.  
The middle two children,  
Will help their powers awake._

I stared at the words in shock. "Does it mean anything to you?" Gaara asked quietly. I slowly nodded once, eyes glued onto the paper. "What?" He demanded.

"Do you not get it, Gaara?" Gaara stared at me. "It's talking about us, Gaara, the four of us: Temari, Kankuro, you, and me. The eldest, me; the youngest, you; the middle two, Temari and Kankuro." Gaara nodded once.

"Thanks." He turned his back towards me and started walking back to my house.

"Wait." Gaara stopped and turned around. "Where did you get this scroll?"

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**A/N: Thanks for reading!! Please review!!**


	9. Leaving Konoha, A Challenge?

**Disclaimer: **Once again, I do not own Naruto and whatsoever... I'm sorta getting tired of these things...

**A/N: **I AM BACK!! For those of you who don't know, I've been to China for 3 weeks, aaand I couldn't exactly get chapter 9 up... Yeah... Soooo, to repay you all, I'm going to try to get chapter 10 up within this week. (It's going to be a bit hard for me... Jetlag... but I'll try, for you guys.) And before I forget, thanks to all of those who reviewed. It means a lot to me. Now... on with the story!! Enjoy!!

Oh, and I'm trying something new, so chapter 9 is going to be in normal POV. And it was a bit easier for me because I was basing this part off of the anime.

* * *

Half an hour later, Sasuke finally appeared. "We've been waiting for you, Sasuke."

"So what's with the change in attitude?" Sasuke questioned Sakon.

"It has already been decided that the moment you abandoned the village you'd become our new leader. Please forgive the rudeness we displayed earlier." They bowed down Sasuke on their knees as I scoffed. They said the same thing to me when I got here, but I refused. 'Why?' They asked. 'Why? I have my own reasons,' I replied.

Sasuke walked past them and said, "I don't care. Let's go. This is now the beginning." The four Sound ninjas stood up and the six of us disappeared into the shadows. So far, this was turning out better than I thought. Was this a coincidence? Or was Orochimaru purposely trying to mess up the Akatsuki's plan? I silently chuckled to myself. I wonder what Itachi's going to do when he finds out that I left for Orochimaru. This is going to be interesting.

* * *

**CH 9**

After about 5 hours of walking, Sakon stopped and asked, "Sasuke-sama, will this area do? We have already left Konoha."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, there is an important message from Orochimaru-sama."

"That's why I'm asking what it is." Risa smirked.

The Sound Four chuckled. "I have been asked to tell you, you must die at once." Risa glanced at each of Sound ninjas as they seemed to have found the situation extremely funny. Sasuke was staring straight at Sakon. Risa silently walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Before we go any further, I'm afraid you must die just this once." Sakon said.

"I must die once?" Sasuke repeated.

Sakon chuckled as he took out a small bottle filled with tiny black pills. "You will take one of these awakening pills."

"What's it for? Awakening from what?"

"That mark on your should is only a first-state curse. But those pills will stimulate and magnify its power, making it a level two." Tayuya explained.

"One problem, strengthening the curse mark will also increase its effect on your body. Such a rapid change will kill you at once. And so, to ensure you survive the transition to the second state, we must give your body time to get accustomed to it, several hours at least. After that, once the transition is complete, your power may even be equal to ours. Unfortunately, the fact remains that even with all these preparations, you'll still have to die." Sakon stated.

Risa looked at Sakon. "Oh?" 'I'm not going to let Sasuke die. **Of course not, honey.**'

"So I'm dead. What'll happen after that?" Sasuke questioned Sakon.

"Not to worry. Why do you think my friends and I are here?" Sakon said as he started walking over to us.

"So you know how to make the transition occur without Sasuke dying?" Risa asked.

Sakon ignored Risa and handed the bottle to Sasuke. "We'll cast a barrier of ninjutsu to lessen the effects of the transition. Instead of dying, you'll only be suspended in a state of half-death for a while."

Sasuke looked down at the bottle. "And I'm supposed to trust you guys that this half-death won't turn into the real thing?"

"Listen Sasuke," Kidoumaru pointed to himself, "Don't forget who we are, Orochimaru hand-picked body guards. If there's anybody who knows about curse marks, barrier ninjutsu, and all the rest, it'd be us."

Sasuke popped open the bottle cap. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Risa asked.

He nodded. "I guess I'm in your hands." Sakon nodded twice.

"Look, Sakon, I'll be watching, so if anything goes wrong, prepare to have your life stripped away from you forever. And this goes for all of you." Risa stared down every single one of them. 'I don't want to dirty my hands. **More importantly, we don't want to lose Sasuke, right?**'

Sasuke put the black pill in his mouth and swallowed it. A few seconds later, Sasuke clutched his chest in pain. Risa held him up by his stomach to keep him from falling.

"Right. Get ready. We've got to do this quickly or we'll lose him." Sakon said as he pulled out a huge summoning scroll. Sakon placed his hand over the kanji sign and a barrel was summoned. Risa gently placed Sasuke into the barrel and jumped back to the safety of the trees. "Get in position. Now!!" The Sound Four placed their hands in different positions and faced their palms to the air while purple substances came out of them and a black cloud formed above the barrel. They then pushed their hands in front of them, palm facing the ground.

"Four man flame formation!!" The black cloud descended into the barrel and the lid slammed down. Sakon took out five strips of paper, bit his left thumb to draw blood, and wrote on them to create seals.

Sakon threw the seals at the barrel and they formed a circle around the barrel. "Sealing justu!!" He clapped his hands together as the seals stuck themselves onto the barrel. "There, that'll hold him for now."

"It better." Risa muttered as she came down from the trees.

A While Later…

"Great. It looks like we've got company," said Sakon.

"There's just one, no, wait, two of them." Tayuya informed the group.

"Then… I guess I'll go scout ahead to see if there's any others who'll bother us on this… journey." Risa exclaimed as she jumped into the trees.

"You should." Risa jumped from tree to tree at a high speed, leaving the Sound Four to deal with their visitors.

"Get ready!" Two leaf ninjas jumped at them from behind as the Sound Four escaped out of their reaches.

"They work for Orochimaru." Reido said.

"And judging from the path they've just taken I'm guessing they've come from Konoha." Genma replied. "What you got in the coffin?"

"Fighting two jonins at once?" Kidoumaru asked as he and the rest of the Sound Four let their curse marks out. "I'm trembling at the prospect." The two jonins grimaced.

"You might want to think this over," said Reido. "It won't be like last time you jumped us by surprise."

"Yeah, you're right, scum. You won't survive this time." Tayuya proclaimed.

"Trust me, you pawns of Orochimaru, you don't want to mess with the Leaf shinobi."

Sakon summoned a kunai and leapt forward to do battle. Genma rushed forward and blocked the kunai in midair by spitting his toothpick at it. Once the first move was made, the others started fighting, too…

An hour later, the Sound Four finally caught up with Risa, who was standing in the middle of a clearing, clearly waiting for them. She turned around to see four tired Sound ninjas, one carrying a barrel, walking towards her. "…What happened?" They sat down in a circle and told Risa the story.

"…and then we finally found you. By the way, why weren't you there to help us?"

"…I don't think that they know that I left the village, yet… and what they said proves it, too."

"What do you mean?"

"'What you got in the coffin?' That clearly tells that they don't know Sasuke and I have left. Unless, you guys were too dumb to notice that…"

"What do you mean 'too dumb to-" Sakon shook his head. "Whatever."

"You guys should rest for awhile. Then we'll get moving." Risa said as she stood up.

"…" The Sound Four looked at each other. "I guess she's right… even though I don't exactly like it…"

* * *

Angel: So? What do you think of it?

Tayuya: I think that it's a load of crap.

Sasuke: I think that I want to get out of the stupid container.

Jiroubou: I think that I want a bag of chips.

Sakon: Hm... I think that maybe, just maybe, I want to get rid of Ukon.

Ukon: I think I want to get rid of Sakon.

Naruto: And I think that I should be part of the story more because _I'm _the main character and not Risa or Sasuke because the anime was named after _me_. It's not called 'Sasuke' or 'Risa', but 'Naruto'.

Risa: ...And I think that you should all shut up.

Angel: -sulks in emo corner-

Kakashi: I think that you should read Icha Icha Paradise. It's a very good book.

Angel: -smiles sweetly- And I think that the readers should ignore these idiots over here and just review. RIGHT? -glowers at the others-

In Unison: Yes ma'am.

Angel: Thank you. -smiles-


	10. Found, But Escaped Again

**Disclaimer: **The usual.

**A/N: **Well, here's my second update of the week. This one might not be so good because I still have jetlag... and that really sucks. There's not much of Risa in this one... and I have no clue when Itachi is going to come out... so, sorry for making you guys wait. We're getting there. Well, here's chapter ten. Enjoy!!

* * *

An hour later, the Sound Four finally caught up with Risa, who was standing in the middle of a clearing, clearly waiting for them. She turned around to see four tired Sound ninjas, one carrying a barrel, walking towards her. "…What happened?" They sat down in a circle and told Risa the story.

"…and then we finally found you. By the way, why weren't you there to help us?"

"…I don't think that they know that I left the village, yet… and what they said proves it, too."

"What do you mean?"

"'What you got in the coffin?' That clearly tells that they don't know Sasuke and I have left. Unless, you guys were too dumb to notice that…"

"What do you mean 'too dumb to-" Sakon shook his head. "Whatever."

"You guys should rest for awhile. Then we'll get moving." Risa said as she stood up.

"…" The Sound Four looked at each other. "I guess she's right… even though I don't exactly like it…"

**

* * *

******

CH 10

"It drives me crazy, stopping to having to rest when we should be moving on," Sakon stated, voicing his opinion.

"Well, what did you expect? You think you can fight a level two battle without feeling the effects?" Tayuya retorted.

"To feel like your whole body is completely useless, it's frustrating," said Jiroubou.

"Can't be helped if you're going to take on two jounin level ninja. If we'd held anything back, we'd have been dead." Kidoumaru closed his eyes. A minute later, he suddenly opened his eyes and stared at a bush nearby.

'There's someone behind that bush over there,' Risa thought to herself. 'And there's more people close by.' She closed her eyes, pretending not to notice. '**I do believe that the others have figured out by now, too. **Of course, or else they wouldn't be Orochimaru's hand-picked bodyguards.' Risa leaned against a tree and opened her eyes in slit to see the positions the others were in: Tayuya was sitting on the barrel; Jiroubou, Sakon, and Kidoumaru were all sitting down. 'I'm pretty sure they haven't noticed that we're aware of their presence.'

* * *

"Looks like we caught them napping. Hm? Hold on. Where's Sasuke?" Shikamaru peered from a hole in the bush.

"He's in there, inside that coffin." Neji appeared beside him, using his Byakugan to inspect the group in front of them.

"You don't mean he's dead?!" Shikamaru cried out softly in surprise.

"It's been sealed with a barier jutsu that's hard for me to see through clearly. Considering that they went through all that trouble to get him, I can't believe that they'll be willing to kill him so quickly." Neji explained quietly.

"Let's just hope you're right."

Out of nowhere, Sakon threw a kunai with three bombs attached to it right at the bush where there were now two people hiding behind it. It blew up and sent the spies flying out of the bush, and right in front of the Sound Four and Risa, who looked down at them with no emotion whatsoever on her face. "What's this? I just tried throwing a knife and found two bugs instead of a snake," Sakon said smugly.

"Hold on. Wait." Shikamaru stood up and placed his hands in front of him, trying to explain. "We didn't come here to fight. We just came to negotiate. Risa-san, please, listen to me."

Kidoumaru scoffed. "She won't listen to you. She's already made up her mind. And what are these?!" He threw his hands forward and Naruto, Kiba, and Chouji came flying through the air, attached to some sort of string controlled by Kidoumaru. Kiba threw a smoke bomb and it became a purple ball of smoke, hiding them from their enemies. "And what is the meaning of this smoke bomb? There's no way you can get away from me. These strings are thinner, yet stronger than wire, so you barely see them. My strings are laid all around this area," Kidoumaru said as he wriggled his fingers around with the strings attached to them.

As the smoke cleared, you could see the two groups of ninjas: one clearly disheveled, and the other, tired but ready to fight at any moment's notice. "Damn it." "Ow…"

"The two wire traps were set like that on purpose…" Shikamaru said, as he finally understood the meaning of the wire traps. "So it was a triple trap. You had me. I didn't think you had someone with such technique."

"I'll get you guys." Kidoumaru said with confidence in himself. "What the? My body."

"Nicely done, Kiba, Shikamaru." Naruto shouted. "Kage mane no jutsu, success!!" There was a shadow-like thing on the ground, connecting Shikamaru to the Sound Four and Risa, who was now standing behind the Sound Four and next to the coffin/container.

"But, I have this technique." Shikamaru smirked. "Thanks for letting everything go accordingly to my plan."

"You got me. But I still have this technique." A part of Sakon was missing. Shurikens came flying out of the forest behind Shikamaru.

"What? From behind me?" As he turned around to avoid the attack, the shadow disappeared.

"Doton kekkai." Jiroubou placed his hands flatly on the ground. "Doro doumo!" Soil came up from the ground and piled themselves up to form a strong dome-like barrier around the five genins to keep them from escaping. Sakon's other head went back to its original place on Sakon's body, cracking its head once more before stilling itself. "I got these kids. Let me recover some."

"Once you finish eating, catch up with us. We'll go on ahead." Kidoumaru, Sakon and Tayuya began to walk away.

"…Eating?" Risa questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"We'll explain on the way." Kidoumaru picked up the barrel and put it on his back. "Here we go!"

"Hurry it up, then catch up." Sakon said, looking back at Jiroubou before following the others.

Once they were in the trees, the questioning began. "You said you were going to answer me, Kidoumaru. Now tell me, what did you mean by… eating?"

"It's just our way of saying that he's going to steal their chakra for his very own." The four of them were jumping from tree to tree in a single file line: Tayuya, Sakon, Risa, and Kidoumaru.

"So that's what the barrier was for?"

"Of course. And Jiroubou's going to come back as soon as he's finished, like he promised us." Risa laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing much. It's just that, I don't think that's going to happen." A smile appeared on her face.

"What? What do you mean by that?" Kidoumaru asked in surprise and anger. He didn't like what Risa said, and apparently, neither did Tayuya.

"Of course that fat ass is going to come back!! Just because he's the weakest one from our group doesn't mean that he can't beat those loser genins up!!" Tayuya yelled from the front.

Risa laughed again. "I'm just saying. Don't underestimate Konoha's genins. You don't know what they're capable of. But then again, you don't always have to listen to, or believe, what I'm saying. I'm not in charge of the Sound Four." 'But I have been with those five for quite some time, and I am pretty sure that I know what they can do, and with Shikamaru, I know for certain that they can defeat Jiroubou. Especially considering the people on the team.' Risa smiled.

* * *

Meanwhile, after their little argument, Shikamaru found a way to get out of the earth barrier that Jiroubou created. Kiba and Naruto have tried to fight him head on, to no success. After Chouji took down Jiroubou's earth barrier again, the five genins hid in the forest to come up with a plan to defeat Jiroubou and go after Sasuke and Risa again.

"We're running out of time. There's no choice, we've got to split up." Shikamaru said to the group.

"What's the point in that?" Naruto asked.

"Shikamaru's right. With all our chakra taken away, even with the five of us against him, he's not going to be easy to take out. And with every second that passes, Sasuke gets closer to the border. Once he crosses it, it will all be out of our hands. So we should split into two groups: one to stop him and one to follow Sasuke." Neji explained.

"You'll have the second team. Okay, Neji?" Shikamaru asked. Just then, Jiroubou slammed his hand onto the ground and the forest fell apart to reveal the small group.

"Huh. So there you are." Jiroubou grinned.

"Neji, you take Kiba and Chouji and head out after Sasuke." Shikamaru commanded.

Neji nodded. "You've got it."

"Naruto, you and I will handle this guy." Shikamaru put his hand into a seal, ready to fight with all he had.

"What are you going to do, play with my shadow again?" Jiroubou smirked, making fun of Shikamaru's technique. "Don't waste my time, kid. You already showed me your parlor trick, and once was enough."

"That's funny. I seem to remember someone getting taken in by my parlor trick." Shikamaru let the shadow stretch out to where Jiroubou was standing, but it didn't reach him. Jiroubou slammed his hand into the ground again, deactivating Shikamaru's technique.

When the dust cleared, Jiroubou appeared behind them, holding a giant boulder made out of soil above his head with his two hands. "Are you insane?!" Naruto yelled. Jiroubou made no comment and heaved the boulder towards the five genins, letting it roll in their direction, clearing a small part of the forest.

* * *

BOOM!

"You hear that?"

"I'm guessing that they got out of Jiroubou's _strong_ _and inescapable _barrier." Risa said as she refrained herself from smiling.

"SHUT UP, BITCH!" Tayuya's voice came loudly from the front.

Risa chuckled. "I think that you should apply that to yourself first before telling others to do that."

* * *

"NARUTO!! I'll handle him." Chouji stood up. "This guy is mine."

"But Chouji…" Shikamaru started.

"What the heck are you talking about?! This isn't the kind of guy you can take on your own!" Naruto yelled.

"He's mine! I said he's mine!"

"Yeah, but Chouji, you're…" Naruto broke off.

Chouji reached into his back pocket and took out a brown bag. "Shikamaru, take these food pills for everyone."

"Chouji, you're not gonna…" Shikamaru smiled.

"Uh-huh. Don't worry. I've got my secret weapon with me." Chouji walked over and handed the bag to Shikamaru.

"Yeah, but Chouji, this is…"

"Oh yeah. This is priceless. You think I'm going to let it go right here?" Jiroubou charged at them.

Chouji stood in front of them, ready to fight. "Shikamaru, hurry." He took out a small box with three pills in them: one red, one yellow, and one green. He opened the top of the green pill with his thumb and popped it into his mouth.

"Get out of my way, you dope!!" Jiroubou charged at Chouji, but Chouji, with the help of the green pill stood his ground and held Jiroubou there.

"Shikamaru! Take everybody and get out of here!"

"Chouji…"

"What did the five of us join together for? If we lose Sasuke, we'll be just what this guy says we are, a stupid idiot for a leader and a band of rejects." Chouji grunted with effort.

"You better catch up with us, Chouji. You hear me?"

"Yeah! Get out of here! Go already!"

"All right! Let's move you guys!"

"Right!" Kiba, Naruto, and Neji said. The three of them and Shikamaru jumped into the air, continuing their mission to bring Sasuke back. It was now a fight of strength between Chouji and Jiroubou. It was a fight to the death.

* * *

Angel: So, how was it? What do you guys think?

Sasuke: It was-

Angel: Wait. I shouldn't ask those questions.

Risa: Smart choice.

Itachi: When am I going to come out again?!

Angel: Well, actually...

Itachi: Yes? -leans forward-

Angel: I have no clue.

Itachi: -falls-

Risa: Itachi!! Are you o- -clears throat- I'm a little tired. I think I should go get some rest. Being one of the main characters is extremely tiring, don't you know that?

Naruto: Hey! I'm the main character here! That's why the anime is named after me!

Chouji: He's mine! -chases Jiroubou around-

Angel: Pardon these crazy people.

Neji: You _are _the one who made us like this.

Angel: As I was saying, thanks for reading, and please, review. -smiles and waves- Ja-ne!


	11. Can't Avoid Battle: Naruto vs Sasuke

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. I only own Risa, but since this is a fanfiction... hehe... I get to do whatever I want. **

**A/N: I'm soooo sorry for not posting in a long time, but school started and I'm all busy. -sigh- Well, this is, by far, the longest chapter I have ever written. I thought it would be better to get all the boring things done, well, things you guys have already seen in the anime/manga. And I sort of messed some things up. When I said that Itachi was going to get Risa on the full moon and I said it was in a few days, it's supposed to be two, not 'a few'. My bad! Well, other than that, enjoy!**

* * *

**CH 11**

While Jiroubou was fighting Chouji, the rest of the Sound Four and Risa were getting closer to the border every minute, every second, but the four genins were catching up, and they were close to getting another chance at getting Sasuke and Risa back from the clutches of Orochimaru and the Sounds.

Finally, they caught up, but Kidoumaru stayed behind to deal with the genins, and the Konoha ninjas were forced to leave Neji behind so they could go after Sasuke and Risa.

Again, they caught up, and finally, they got the coffin containing Sasuke in their hands. Kiba and Akamaru left bombs all over the place, and Akamaru got stuck and couldn't get out. So Kiba was forced to go help Akamaru and to battle Sakon and his twin brother Ukon.

Kimimaro appeared and took the coffin back from Naruto. Risa and Kimimaro left with Naruto on their tail, and Shikamaru ended up fighting Tayuya.

XxXxXxX

Kimimaro and Risa jumped out from the forest and landed in a grassy field and Kimimaro put the coffin down.

"Hold it right there!" Naruto jumped out a seconds after us. "Hey."They turned around to face him. Natuto's eyes had turned red, and his teeth became longer like fangs.

Before Risa could say anything, Kimimaro spoke. "Let's see. How should I destroy you?" He turned around to face Naruto. She wanted to tell him to give up. They weren't going back. But Kimimaro was there, and he was preparing to fight him. The veins were visible on the side of Naruto's head. "Interesting, don't you think, Risa?" Silence was what he got.

"Tell me what Orochimaru is planning to do, and why the heck is he trying to get Sasuke and Risa so bad?"

Kimimaro closed his eyes. "Orochimaru-sama has already acquired the immortality jutsu, but a vast amount of time is required to obtain every jutsu, and everything he wants from this world-"

"So what does that have to do with them?"

"Just because he is immortal doesn't mean that his body can retain himself forever. So before his flesh decays, a strong, new body must be made into a vessel for his soul."

"Are you saying that he's going to use Sasuke's body?"

Kimimaro let the bone coming out from his left hand show and he moved back. "That's right. Precisely."

"No. Not Sasuke!" Naruto formed a seal, the Nine Tail's chakra coming out of every pore in his body. "I won't let you do it!" Thousands of shadow clones appeared, surrounding Kimimaro, Risa, and Sasuke. "There's no way you're going to take Sasuke."

"Oh? How amusing," Kimimaro said, looking around, estimating the number of clones there were.

Risa chuckled and moved closer to the coffin. "Naruto, give up. There's no way you're going to win. If Kimimaro does fail, you'll be fighting up against me, and I'm pretty capable of producing as much shadow clones as you can."

Naruto was at a loss for words, or so it seemed. "Just watch me, Risa-san, I'm going to bring the both of you back. You guys only want power, and you need that power to kill Itachi, right? Well, after I bring you guys back to Konoha, I'm going to help you guys get your revenge."

Itachi. That was the reason why she was here, wasn't it? No, it was because of Sasuke. Or was it Itachi? Risa closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind. It wasn't working. Flashes of her past came rushing back to her.

_Obito was laying on the ground, drenched in his own pool of blood. His eyes looked lifeless. He didn't even have the energy to even move one single muscle. "It was Itachi-kun."_

_It was Itachi-kun._

_It was Itachi-kun._

_Sasuke was running their way, a look of horror on his face. "Risa-san! They're- they're all dead!!" The tears started coming out. _

_They're all dead._

_He was standing there in the middle of the street with his sword in one hand and a corpse in the other. He flung the dead body against the wall of a house, and the cracking of its bones could be heard in the midst of the screaming. More people came at him, and he killed them all, without a moment's hesitation. The screaming stopped, and all around him were corpses and blood. _

That was why she was here today: to help Sasuke avenge the Uchiha clan. And that was the only reason why she was here. She was going to help him gain power, In order to kill the one who was responsible for all of their deaths.

"_Risa-chan, aishiteru." He placed a chaste kiss on her lips. _

No, she couldn't kill him. She still loved him, right? But from their last meeting, it appeared that he didn't love her anymore. So, was her only option to kill him?

By the time Risa came out of her thoughts, Kimimaro had already gotten rid of more than half of Naruto's shadow clones and had six bones coming out from six different places. "This is my bloodline limit." She heard him say. The bones went back to his body. Kimimaro then unzipped part of his shirt and move one side of it down so he could grab the bone that was coming out of his shoulder, using it as a sword.

Risa noticed purple smoke coming out from the coffin. "Almost." She ignored Kimimaro when he talked about his bone and his five dances. She was only focusing on the coffin. More and more smoke was coming out of it, drifting to the sky. It was almost time.

Risa focused her attention back to the fight between Kimimaro and Naruto. Slowly, Kimimaro was getting rid of all of the shadow clones, and it soon came down to the one and only real Naruto.

"It's about time. I'm growing tired of waiting." Kimimaro closed his eyes. More and more smoke was coming out from the coffin. "Orochimaru-sama's ambition… This is the first step towards it." Right after he said it, the seals on the barrel broke, and the lid exploded, causing the rest of the coffin to get destroyed along with it.

When the smoke decreased, they caught a glimpse of Sasuke's new form. Naruto's eyes opened in surprise and he laughed nervously. "Sasuke! What are you doing with these clowns? Come on, let's hurry back! You, too, Risa-san!" Sasuke chuckled. "Sasuke? Hey… hey, let's go home. Everyone's worried, you know! So…" Sasuke laughed this time, his hands and upper body shaking from the vibrations. "Sasuke! You can hear me, right?!" Sasuke bent his knees and leapt forward, bounding out of the valley. "Wait, Sasuke!"

Risa took one more glance at Naruto and said, "Kimimaro, I'll leave him to you." And she followed Sasuke back into the forest.

A few seconds later, she saw Sasuke's back come into view. "Sasuke." He slowed down momentarily, giving Risa a chance to catch up. "How- how are you feeling?"

"Fine." It was a mumble. Risa almost didn't catch it.

"Good. We should be outside the border in ten minutes, assuming nobody stops us, of course." She glanced at Sasuke, seeing no reaction from him, she continued. "Once we're outside the border, we should continue on to the Sound village. There's a high possibility that we won't reach there by nightfall, so we need to find a place to stay for the night, unless you want to continue on without stopping." She glanced at him again.

"We'll see."

"He's following us." Sasuke nodded. "Did he defeat Kimimaro that easily?"

"…Who knows?"

"…It's a possibility. Naruto's full of surprises."

"Hm."

"We better go faster."

"Hm."

"Shit. Too late."

"Sasuke! Risa!" Naruto's voice came from behind. He was catching up. Sasuke chuckled, and kept going forward. "Sasuke! Why? Why are you running away?! Sasuke!"

They reached the end of the forest. Sasuke and Risa jumped down from the trees and ran off into the broad daylight with Naruto right behind them, blindly yelling Sasuke's name over and over again. They escaped into some sort of cave.

Naruto's voice echoed off of the walls as he looked for them. "Sasuke! What happened to you?" Sasuke's chuckle could be heard all over the cave. "Come back, Sasuke! Everybody's worried about you!" More chuckles. A light could be seen in the distance.

XxXxXxX

They landed, Sasuke on Uchiha Madara's statue, and Naruto, on the first Hokage's, a giant waterfall in between them. "Sasuke!" Sasuke's back was facing Naruto and took a step forward. "Are you going to run away from me again?" Sasuke stopped, turned around and opened his eyes, so Naruto could see the marks on the left side of Sasuke's face. Sasuke's left pupil was black, the iris was yellow, and his eyeball was black.

"Yo. Moron. This time it's you? I told Sakura this, too… Stop concerning yourself with me."

Naruto clenched his hands. "Why? Why?! Sasuke! Why have you become like this?!"

"Whatever becomes of me, how does it have anything to do with you?" Naruto stepped back in surprise. "I have my own path. No matter who it is, I'm not obliged to take orders from anyone anymore. Let me make it clear to you. My childish games with you and Konoha are over. Go home."

Naruto eyes widened, then relaxed as he remembered Chouji, Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Lee put their lives on the line in order for Naruto to go on ahead after Sasuke. "Everyone… everyone risked their lives to catch up to you!"

Sasuke tilted his head to the side. "How nice of them." He then turned around and started walking away once more.

XxXxXxX

Risa was 'patrolling' the area to see if there were any other intruders that would interfere and waste time. She went around the whole area, and seeing nobody else there besides herself, decided to go back.

She landed on the first Hokage's statue and saw Naruto on top of Sasuke, more like straddling him. What kind of position was he in?! No, she couldn't think about that right now. Naruto's only feelings for Sasuke was like a brother's, but somehow, Risa couldn't help but think that Naruto might be gay, or at least bi, seeing that he liked Sakura so much.

As she recollected her thoughts, she heard snatches of their conversation; the waterfall was just too damn loud. Sasuke picked Naruto up into the air by his collar, and Naruto seemed to be struggling. Without a warning, Sasuke dropped him and punched him in the guts, sending him straight into the waterfall.

Risa jumped over to Sasuke's side and walked over to him. He was staring at his hand in wonder. Just when Risa was about to talk, Sasuke winced in pain, and the seal on Sasuke's left side of his face went back to his neck, and his eyes turned back to normal. Risa kept her mouth shut, starting to fear this person who was standing in front of her, smirking like a maniac.

"Open your damn eyes!" Naruto jumped up from the water. Sasuke met him halfway, kicking him in the stomach and taking the pouch that was secured on his pants. Naruto coughed out blood as he fell into the water once more. Sasuke landed on Madara's finger, staring down into the water where Naruto fell.

"My eyes have been open a long time already. I've seen beyond my own foolishness, beyond stupid thoughts of being with friends, and dreaming of a peaceful future with like-wise fools. That's why I left the village. That is why I sought power! My dreams are not of the future. My dreams are of the past. Only there."

Risa froze. Sasuke's words hit the spot, and flashes of her past came back at her once more.

"_Itachi-kun! What would you like for lunch?" He just came back from training, and was drop-dead tired._

"_Hm… anything that Risa-chan makes would be fine." He managed a weak smile and sat down at the kitchen table._

"_Hai! Coming right up!"_

_The scene changed. They were on a mission, just the two of them, and they were fighting ninjas from the Sound. They were both battling three at once, and they were winning. _

"_Itachi! Behind you!" He turned around just in time to see one ninja trying to get him from behind. With one slash of his sword, he was dead. _

_In a matter of minutes, the only two survivors left the battleground. They reached a small clearing in the forest and sat down to rest and regain their energy. "Risa-chan, you're hurt."_

_She looked down at the gash in her arm. "Oh, that. He almost got me there, the guy with the huge sword."_

_He took out a bottle of medicine and a roll of bandage from his small pack and fixed up her wound. "Be careful next time."_

_Risa nodded wearily and leaned against Itachi to rest. "You're not hurt, are you? If you were, you're mom would kill me."_

_Itachi laughed quietly. "No, I'm fine. And I wouldn't let my mom kill you, or else I would be girlfriend-less."_

"_You could always find another one." She mumbled._

_He stopped laughing. "No. I love you, and only you. There's no one else that I-"_

"_Save it for later, Itachi, when we're in a more romantic place."_

_He laughed again. "Alright."_

Risa was so caught up in her memories that she didn't notice Sasuke and Naruto fighting each other again.

"Sasuke!" Risa snapped out of here just in time to see Naruto coming up to hit Sasuke in the face. "Asshole!" Another hit. Sasuke showed no resistance. He kept punching, one after another. Risa had enough, and before Naruto could land another hit, she ran over there with blinding speed and stopped his fist with her hand.

"Is this all you have? If this is it, then I won't have to use it_._" Sasuke's voice came from behind her.

"What?" Naruto was confused.

"You haven't noticed, have you? He's not using his sharingan." Risa smirked with satisfaction.

"Don't underestimate me!"

"You lack power and desire." Risa moved to stand next to Sasuke. "If I kept playing friendly games with you guys, I wouldn't have been able to gain this much power!" Sasuke pushed Naruto off of the statue and followed him down himself, kicking Naruto in the guts so many times and slamming him down on the ground, leaving a hole. He threw Naruto's pouch onto the ground where it landed next to him and the hole. "That's right. I need them… power and hatred. In order to catch up to him." He looked up at Risa, who jumped down and landed right beside him. Naruto got up. "Maybe you've woken up now. There's been interference from others before, but there won't be this time. I'll show you the real power of Sharingan. " The Sharingan came out, Risa closed her eyes, contemplating, thinking about the situation that they were in, and what she could do to help save some time. "Risa, I know what you want to do, but this is my fight."

"Alright, Sasuke, if you say so." She backed off. "I will be watching." In case something happens.

XxXxXxX

It was heading towards the end of the battle. They were both at the bottom of the waterfall, on different sides, though. Sasuke was in his second level form and had sprouted wings, while Naruto had his demon fox coat on.

"For you, using that power is risky. Did you know, this place is called the Valley of the End. Isn't this the perfect stage? Right, Naruto?" Sasuke got not answer. "That's right. I said the time for talk was over. This battle… let's finish this now!"

"Chidori!" Sasuke formed the chidori in his hand, which turned silver.

"Rasengan!" Naruto's rasengan turned purple.

They both jumped, Sasuke flying, and met in the middle, one last time. "Chido-sengan!" Their attacks collided in mid-air, forming a huge purple ball of light, which grew bigger and bigger. From inside the chakra ball, a bright, blinding white light consumed the ball.

Their last attack caused the clouds to block the sun, the sky darkening. Risa, seeing Naruto unconscious on the ground, decided that the battle was over, and came over. Sasuke was standing next to Naruto, watching him with a bit of sadness in his eyes. His headband, which had been scratched by Naruto in the final attack, loosened and fell in a pile next to Naruto's head.

"Naruto… I…" It started to rain, as if God was crying for them. Sasuke was soaked to the skin when suddenly he felt a stabbing pain in his arm. His knees buckled beneath him, and he landed with his face an inch away from Naruto's.

"Sasuke…" It was Risa. "We have to go now. Somebody's coming."

Sasuke looked up. "I see…" He looked down at his headband. After a few seconds, he folded his headband neatly and placed it beside Naruto. "Let's go." He shakily stood up. He took a step forward, but his knees failed him once more. Risa caught him before he fell. "Thanks." With the help of Risa, they made their way back to the top of the waterfall and continued on to the Sound village.

XxXxXxX

"Kisame."

"What, Itachi?"

"It is time."

Kisame chuckled. "Of course."

"Let's go."

* * *

**Did anybody notice that I changed my penname? Hehe. I just had a sudden urge to do that. So now, I have no name for myself. I guess I'll just stick with Angel. Heh.**

**Angel: Haha! We're getting to the good part! **

**Naruto: Finally reaching the gay snake bastard? Is that what you call the 'good part'? **

**Angel: O.O Gay... snake... bastard?!**

**Naruto: Admit it, he's gay.**

**Risa: -snickers- You're bi. **

**Silence.**

**Kisame: FISHY! FISHY! FISHY!**

**Itachi: Why do you guys always have awkward conversations?**

**More silence.**

**Kisame: SHARKIE! SHARKIE! SHARKIE!**

**Angel: We're all waiting for Naruto to yell at me.**

**Sasuke: -chuckles- I ate him.**

**Angel: O.O Cannibal.**

**Itachi: I guess it's up to me to finish the job. Review! And thanks for reading!**

**Kisame: SUSHI! SUSHI! SUSHI!**


	12. Captured

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Itachi or Sasuke or Kisame or Danzo or any name that you recognize. I only own Risa. Bleh.

**A/N: **I'm sorry if you see any typos in this chapter. I couldn't get it beta-ed 'cause there was something wrong with the Microsoft Word thing. Heh. My beta's crying 'cause she can't edit it. Sorry. Anyways... Itachi appears in this chapter.

* * *

"Kisame."

"What, Itachi?"

"It is time."

Kisame chuckled. "Of course."

"Let's go."

**

* * *

**

CH 12

They were under the safety of the trees, waiting for the rain to stop as they set up camp. Sasuke's injuries were healed, thanks to Risa, but he was still in an emotional state, thanks to Naruto.

_He would not listen to him. He would do it his own way. He would surpass him. Definitely. _

"And you will not do it alone." Sasuke looked up in surprise. Risa smiled wearily at him. "I will be there with you, when the time comes."

Sasuke grunted in reply. _Thank you._

"You're welcome." _…She can read my mind…_

"Yes, I can." Sasuke's look was one of shock and confusion. Risa laughed. "Your facial expression is easy to read." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Risa, noticing that she said something wrong, decided to intervene before Sasuke got some crazy idea. "It's only me, though, because I've been with you for so long." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry."

"…Thanks…"

XxXxXxX

"Itachi, are you sure that you told her that we would be coming for her on the day of the full moon?" Kisame was pacing around, restless. Getting no answer, he stopped and looked at his partner. "What are we going to do?"

"Split up and look for her. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes." He left.

"'Meet back here in fifteen minutes.' Huh. Who does he think I am? I can't search every nook and cranny in Konoha in just fifteen minutes. Who does he think he is, bossing me around?"

XxXxXxX

The rain finally came to a stop. Risa and Sasuke packed all their things up and left their campsite. They moved at a high speed, and their goal was to reach Orochimaru before nightfall. Well, it didn't seem that it was going to happen, seeing that it was already sunset and they were miles away.

XxXxXxX

"Did you find her?"

"No." Kisame slammed his sword on the ground. "This is getting troublesome."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Stay here." Kisame looked up questioningly. "I will go ask around."

"Alright, alright. Hurry up, though."

XxXxXxX

Where the hell was she? Did she not care about her village at all?

Itachi found himself in Danzo's room, seeing that he was one of the remaining three who knew about his secret. Danzo himself was sitting at his desk, reading some sort of paperwork. When he heard Itachi arrive, he turned around to face him.

"What are you doing here?"

Isn't it obvious? "I need information."

"On what?"

"Where did Risa and Sasuke go? They are not in this village anymore."

Danzo chuckled dryly. "They left."

…Left? "Where are they going?"

"To Orochimaru." Shit. Itachi turned around and started to leave. "And why, may I ask, do you need to know?"

He would've told him, but then he would have to kill him, and he would find himself enjoying that. Sadly, he didn't have the time. "You don't need to know." And he disappeared.

XxXxXxX

Darkness closed in on them like a blanket, covering their eyes so they couldn't see. The only thing that guided their way was the bright moon in the dark sky. That night was the night of the full moon, and Risa seemed to have realized that, and she started to panic. Not the, 'OMG-HE'S-COMING-FOR-ME-RUN!!' panic, but the 'Shit-we-have-to-get-moving-or-else-he's-going-to-come-and-Sasuke's-going-to-fight-him-and-die' Panic.

"Sasuke, we have to move faster. It's already night."

"Yeah."

A flock of birds flew out from the trees around a mile behind them. Sasuke turned his head around. "What was that?"

Damn they're fast. "It was probably just some dog or boar in the forest."

"…Alright… if you say so…"

"But still, we have to get moving."

"We are."

XxXxXxX

"Are you sure this is the right way?" They were moving at an extremely high speed, and Kisame was getting tired of carrying his sword. He wanted to rest. Searching every nook and cranny in Konoha was tiring. And he wanted some sushi.

"Do not question me."

"Yeah, yeah. But if the information was incorrect and we're going the wrong way, there's going to be hell to pay tonight when we go back to Pein-sama."

"That's why I got the correct information. And we're not going back without her." Itachi glanced at Kisame. "Unless… you want to go back by yourself."

Kisame shuddered at the thought of Pein's wrath. Nobody wanted to disobey the orders of the almighty Rin'negan user. "Alright, alright. I'll go with you."

"Good. We're getting closer. I can sense them."

XxXxXxX

Shit. They were close, too closer for Risa's liking. "Sasuke."

"What?" Sasuke glanced at her.

"I am afraid that I cannot continue on with you." Risa chose her words carefully.

"What?! Why?!" Sasuke's face whipped around to stare at her incredulously.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke, but you must go on your own from now on. Tell him, tell Orochimaru, that I have other plans for now. And… tell him that I will be watching."

"Risa, I'm not going without you."

"Sasuke, listen to me. Consider this as part of your training. You must endure it _without me._ You need to be able to do this, in order to… revenge your clan._"_

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in anger. "Alright. I'll do it."

Risa smiled sadly. "I'll miss you."

Sasuke's eyes softened. "Yeah, I'll… think about you." He couldn't say it. He couldn't believe that she was going to leave him all by himself to train with that snake lord. He hated it. But he needed to endure it. It was all for the revenge of his clan. No, their clan. His and Risa's. She was a part of his family, even though she didn't know it.

"Alright." She looked a little pained at his words, but quickly let it pass. "Go on ahead, then."

And that's what he did, without looking back.

XxXxXxX

"One of them has stopped."

"Oh? So she's decided to stay behind and confront us, eh?" Kisame chuckled. "This should be fun."

They continued moving towards her and they soon saw her shadow in the dark.

"Itachi. Kisame. What do you want?"

"Didn't Itachi-san tell you yet?" Kisame chuckled and dropped his sword onto the gound, holding the hilt, and ready to do battle.

"Remind me again, why should I go with you guys?" Risa dropped into position, too, ready to fight if necessary.

"I think we were just going to destroy Konoha, right?"

"Kisame, we're not here to talk."

"Alright, alright." Kisame stood up straight and threw his sword onto his shoulder.

"Do not kill her."

"I know!" And with that, he rushed towards Risa, his sword flying behind him. He swung it at her, but Risa jumped into the air to avoid the attack. Reaching into her sleeves, she pulled out a string of kunai with bombs attached to them. She twirled it around herself and let the kunai's drop to the ground in a circle around Kisame. Still in the air, she propelled herself out of the circle, and jumped back, right before the bombs went off.

When the dust cleared, there was nobody there anymore, except for Itachi, who was standing on the other side watching.

"You think that you could get me that easily?" Kisame's voice came from behind her. Kisame slashed his sword down at her. Risa summoned a sword and blocked his attack. "Pretty strong, aren't you?" Kisame chuckled. "I was in such a hurry to get back to the hideout that I didn't introduce myself."

"I don't care about your fucking introductions!" And with a great heave, she pushed Kisame away from her.

"Oh? Is that so? Well, I think that you should care about my 'fucking introductions', since we're going to be spending a lot of time together."

"What are you talking about?" Risa froze for just a second, taking in what he said. But a second was all Kisame needed to get Risa sprawled out on the ground, clutching at her arm in pain.

"Now are you going to listen to me?" Kisame started walking towards her with his sword on his shoulder.

"S-Stay away from me!!" Risa tried to move backwards, but was trapped against a tree.

"I think I'll finish this off, now." Kisame grinned.

A black cloak with red clouds appeared in front of Risa. She looked up, and saw that it was Itachi. "Stay away…" His Sharingan swirled. "…from… me…"

* * *

**A/N: Ah, my head hurts. I don't think I can get these chapters up as quick as I thought I would've. So much homework. -sigh- But I'll try! **

**Angel: Phew! I am so proud of myself. **

**Sasuke: Sure you are. **

**Angel: Of course I am!**

**Sasuke: You're running out of things to say.**

**Angel: -narrows eyes- What are you talking about? I have lots of things to say!**

**Sasuke: Like?**

**Angel: I changed my pen-name to .It's Raining Blood and Tears.**

**Sasuke: ... **

**Risa: Sasuke! I am so sorry!**

**Sasuke: -mutters- Ditcher.**

**Risa: -gasps-**

**Itachi: ... **

**Angel: Eh... well, I hope you enjoyed that. Have a wonderful day!**


	13. The Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. Only Risa... and the plot...**

**A/N: Gomen-nasai for not updating!! School's been a bitch, piling me up with homework. -sigh- So, sorry for the wait! **

* * *

**CH 13**

She woke up in a bed, surrounded by darkness, head throbbing with pain. What happened to her?

"_Now are you going to listen to me?" Kisame started walking towards her with his sword on his shoulder. _

"_S-Stay away from me!!" Risa tried to move backwards, but was trapped against a tree. _

"_I think I'll finish this off, now." Kisame grinned. _

_A black cloak with red clouds appeared in front of Risa. She looked up, and saw that it was Itachi. "Stay away…" His Sharingan swirled. "…from… me…"_

Right. She was captured by the Akatsuki.

…

Holy shit!

She was captured by Akatsuki!

She jerked upright and realized that it was a bad idea. Her head, which was throbbing in pain before, felt like it was splitting in half. It hurt, it seriously hurt. She clutched her head with both hands and dug her nails into it.

The door opened, and somebody stepped inside. Risa looked up, and instantly forgot about the headache she was having. "You're awake, un?" He closed the door behind him, enclosing them in the darkness once more.

From the glimpse Risa caught, she saw that the person in that just came in was a girl, no, a guy, with blond hair tied back in a ponytail. "…Who are you?"

"Deidara, un."

Risa placed her hands down on the bed. "Dei…dara-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"…What does the Akatsuki want with me?"

Deidara carefully made his way over to the bed and sat down at the edge. "Hm… actually, even I don't know. But since you're awake now, I think it's best if you go see Leader-dono right now, yeah."

"…Leader…dono?"

"Hai. Come on now, we'll go now, un."

XxXxXxX

"Itachi, go check if Risa's awake yet. And if she is, bring her here."

"Hai, Leader-sama."

A pair of eyes watched as Itachi left the dark room. The man chuckled. This was going to get interesting.

XxXxXxX

"And that's where Kakuzu stays, un. He's the guy who is obsessed with money and is close to being immortal." Deidara pointed to the door on their left hand side. "And then, that's-" Deidara was cut off by a person standing in the shadow ahead of them. "Oh. Hey, Itachi-sama."

"I'll be taking her here on. You can go now." Itachi stepped out of the shadows with an emotionless mask on. Deidara hesitated. "I said, you can go now," Itachi said with more force.

"Alright, then." He glanced at Risa, who was staring the ground, clenching her fists. "Well, I'll leave her to you, I guess, un. He turned around and went the opposite direction that they were going before, glancing out of the corner of his eye a few times to look at Risa.

"Come. Leader-sama's waiting for you." Itachi turned and started walking away. Risa, after hesitating for a few seconds, followed.

An uncomfortable silence followed. Both of them didn't want to be the one who talked first. It was almost unbearable.

Soon, they reached a door and the far end of the hallway. Itachi opened the door for Risa. Risa hesitated before stepping in. Itachi followed suit and closed the door behind him.

The room was dark, much like the room that Risa found herself in when she woke up. "Risa." A man's voice came out of the darkness.

"That's my name." Risa closed her eyes and silently took a deep breath, calming herself.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"..No. Maybe that's why I'm about to ask you that."

A chuckle was heard in the midst of darkness, echoing around the room. "I'm sure you've received our message."

"Message?"

"Yes, a message."

Silence.

"Do you not remember? We sent you a message… and you're youngest brother one."

Silence.

"Four shinobi si-"

Risa cut the voice off. "I know. I remember."

Another chuckle. "Good. Then I will tell you the truth."

"The… truth?"

"Yes. The truth." A movement was heard as Itachi was about to open the door to go outside. "Itachi, I would prefer if you would stay in here and listen to what I have to say. I think you deserve to know. Especially since you two were… close to each other back then."

Risa tensed at the words and spoke with a hint of venom in her voice. "Just hurry up and get this talk over with. I have something to attend to."

"Oh? I'm afraid that is not possible. You cannot leave this place. If you do, the only place you'll ever go is to the realm of eternal darkness. And I'm pretty sure you do not desire to go there." Risa narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. The person took it as a sign to continue. "As you remember, the poem said that the eldest of four children was an angel. The problem is that they got it wrong. The eldest is not an angel, but has the holy powers of an angel. Akira must have seen the wings and never thought it through carefully. Because if you were an angel, you wouldn't be here today." He chuckled again.

"…I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying."

"Alright. I'll explain it this way then. Basically, you're like an angel. You have holy powers that haven't been awaken yet, but they will soon be. "

"And tell me, what am I doing here? What does any of my future powers have to do with you and Akatsuki?"

"You will soon find out. But for now, you need to stay here."

"'The middle two children will help their powers awake.' Where does that come in?"

"I'm afraid that that will not happen. We cannot allow for your powers to be released in Konoha."

"And why is that?"

"Because it would be harder to retrieve you, then. And we cannot afford to waste our time. You are now a S-ranked ninja, right?" Risa's jaw tensed in the dark, but she did not answer. "In that case, you will be a part of Akatsuki."

"And who made the decision for me?"

"This is your only option, your only choice. And as to who made the decision, I presume that that would be me. Give it a chance. I think you'll like life here at Akatsuki."

"I-"

"Itachi, slash her hitai-ate when you guys go outside. And then lead her to her room. Make sure she does not try to escape or try to send any message alerting anybody that she is here and a part of Akatsuki." Risa grimaced.

"Hai, Leader-dono."

"You two are now dismissed." Itachi opened the door, and light poured in from the opening. Risa walked towards the inviting light, but was stopped by the leader. "And Risa, your questions will be answered." With a sharp nod, she stepped outside of the dark room and was followed by Itachi, who closed the door again.

"Come." Itachi and Risa walked back down the hallway, Itachi in the front, and Risa following a few steps behind him. A few minutes later, they stopped a door. Risa lost count of which door it was, since there were so many passages and doors in what she assumed was the Akatsuki base. Itachi opened the door and Risa stepped in. Itachi followed and gently closed the door behind them. Without a warning, he took out a kunai and slashed at the hitai-ate around Risa's waist, leaving a horizontal scratch across the middle. "Your cloak and ring are in the bathroom." Without another word, he turned around and left the room.

The room was pretty big, compared to her room back in Konoha. It was extremely plain, too. Risa walked over to the bed in the center back of the room and sat down. She had to escape somehow. She had to get back to Sasuke and make sure that the bastard Orochimaru didn't do anything. And if she couldn't, well, she just needed to redecorate the room and hope for the best.

**

* * *

**

Angel: Eh... I probably haven't gotten somethings clear enough... Oh well... It'll have to do... for now. -smiles-

Risa: ...Why does it have to be ME who gets stuck in the Akatsuki base?

Angel: You're not stuck.

Risa: Yes, I am.

Angel: Itachi's there.

Risa: ... I care why?

Itachi: 'Cause you love me.

Risa: ... I do?

Angel: Stop denying it.

Naruto: AND REVIEW!!

Angel: ... Wrong timing, Naruto.

Naruto: -scratches head- Gomen.

Lee: MY YOUTHFUL FRIENDS!! PLEASE REVIEW AND YOU'LL GET A HUG FROM WEASEL-KUN HERE!! AND WE'LL COOK KISAME-KUNS FOR DIIIINEEEER!

Itachi: -twitch- Do NOT call me Weasel-kun EVER again. DO YOU HEAR ME?

Kisame: ... I don't want to be shark fin soup...

Angel: Ehehe... anyways, thanks for reading!!


	14. Day 1: The Morning

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.**

**Claimer: I DO own Risa and the plot.**

**Warning: 'Hidan and his mouth' alert. **

**A/N: I FINALLY got this chapter up. I won't say anything else.**

**

* * *

**

CH 14

Sunlight came in from the crack in the curtains, curtly tapping at her eyelids and reminding her that it was morning. She opened her eyes groggily and stared at the ceiling for a while before getting up and walking into the bathroom to take a shower. After stripping from her clothes, she stepped into the already running water and let the hot water flow all the way down from her head to her feet, relaxing at the same time. She took the shampoo and slathered it all over her hand before rubbing it in her hair and massaging her scalp. She rinsed the shampoo out by standing directly under the water and closing her eyes. She stood there for who knows how long.

After turning the water off, she stepped out and found the mirror covered with mist. After drying herself and her hair, Risa finally gave her attention to the Akatsuki hat and the neatly-folded Akatsuki cloak on the counter. She made her way over to where the hat and cloak were and picked the cloak up, admiring the feel of the cloth. She put it back onto the counter and put her clothes on before picking up the cloak again. She put it around her and felt something jabbing at the side of her stomach. She reached inside the cloak and found a small pocket with something inside of it. Risa took it out and found a small ring with the kanji for blood. After staring at the symbol for a few seconds, she put it back into the pocket, refusing to acknowledge the purple nail polish that was at the corner of the counter.

Risa took and hat and stepped outside of the bathroom to her surprise, saw Deidara sitting on her bed, looking around the room. When Deidara saw she, he stood up and smile. "What are you doing here, Deidara-kun?" Risa walked over to him, allowing a small smile to come out.

"Leader-dono wants to talk to you again, un."

"…What does he want now?" Risa turned around and walked over to the winder where she opened the curtains and let the sunshine pour in.

"I don't know." Deidara walked a few steps toward her. "By the way, you look good in that cloak, un. It fits you."

"Thank you." Her voice void of any emotion as she replied to Deidara's statement. It reminded her of the past, when she was with Itachi.

_The sun smiled upon the young couple who were sitting under a sakura tree, enjoying the peace and quiet they were getting. _

"_Risa-chan."_

"_Hm?" Risa turned her face around to face him. _

"_You look good in that outfit. It fits you." _

_Risa looked forward again, a small blush creeping upon her face. "Thanks."_

"We should get going now, Deidara-kun." Risa walked past Deidara and to the door. Deidara stood there, wondering what came over her all of a sudden. Did he say something wrong? "Are you coming, Deidara-kun?" She asked coldly.

Deidara snapped out of his thoughts and walked briskly over to her, who was opening the door and stepping out.

The walk to the Leader's office was a silent and painful one. The aura Risa was giving off was filled with a killing intent, and for once, Deidara decided to keep his mouth shut. With Deidara leading the way, they soon got to the office. "I'll be fine here on." She opened the door and slammed it shut in Deidara's face.

The room wasn't dark this time. Risa clearly saw the person she was talking to last night staring out the window with his back to her. He was actually quite tall. "That was pretty fast, Risa-san." He turned around and to her surprise, she saw a man with many black piercings on his face. His hair was an orange color, totally contrasting with his face and black piercings.

Risa managed to contain her surprise before answering. "Hai."

"I'm sure you've received the ring, right?"

"Hai."

"Good. You will put it on your left middle finger."

"Hai."

"You will be in a group with Itachi and Kisame."

"…Hai."

"Good. Do you have any questions?"

"Hai."

"What is it?"

"Do I have to wear the nail polish?"

"Hai."

Risa nodded.

"Alright, then. I'll ask Konan to take you to the dining room where you will be having your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, unless you're on a mission."

"Hai."

"Konan," he called as a girl with blue hair and a white flower stepped out from the shadows. "Take Risa-san to the dining room."

Konan nodded before moving towards the door, motioning for Risa to follow her. They went back outside to the corridor and closed the door before Konan grabbed her arm and pulled Risa down the hall. Risa, surprised by the change in her personality allowed Konan to drag her all the way to the dining room. But instead of the dining room, Konan took her to another room, which seemed like Konan's own room. "You're not hungry, right?" Risa shook her head and Konan continued on. "You don't know how glad I am to have a girl in this group with me! Spending years with guys isn't doing me any good! None of them would go shopping with me!" Risa blinked a few times. "Oh, sorry. I haven't introduced myself properly, yet. I'm Konan, Pein's partner."

"…Pein?" Konan took her by the arm and led her to two chairs by the window.

"Yeah, Pein. You know, the leader of this organization? The guy you were just talking to?"

"Oh. Him."

Konan nodded and continued. "Well, we've been friends for a really long time, so it's not surprising that I'm his partner." Konan chatted animatedly for minutes, not giving Risa any time to say anything. "And then, we attacked the-"

"What's with the change in personality?" Risa cut in before Konan could say any more.

Konan blushed lightly. "Sorry. It's just that I'm really excited to see another kuonichi in this organization. You know, since I've been with guys for such a long time."

"Yeah, you told me."

"Sorry. Anyways, I think we should go get something to eat."

Risa smiled. "Alright." Konan was actually okay, once she calms down.

They left Konan's room and after many twists and turns, they finally got to the dining room. What Risa saw in the dining room shocked her. It was a complete mess, with raw food materials all over the walls and floor. Never in her life had she seen a room this dirty before. Shouts were heard from inside the kitchen, right next to the dining room. Risa and Konan made their way through the mess and into the kitchen. Deidara and Hidan were yelling at each other and were having a food fight, with uncooked food and cooking utensils. Apparently, they were about to make breakfast until something happened and they started arguing.

"IT'S YOUR TURN TO MAKE BREAKFAST, UN!!" Deidara threw an opened box of cereal at Hidan who ducked and let the cereal box hit the wall behind him.

"NO, IT FUCKING ISN'T!! IT'S YOUR'S!!" Hidan picked up a pot from the ground and flung it at Deidara, but missed, and the pot flew right towards Risa, who was watching with a bemused expression with Konan. Hidan and Deidara gaped as the pot aimed right for Risa's face. It came closer and was about to hit her when Risa tilted her head to the side at the last second.

With a bang, the pot hit a Zetsu right in the face when he was just walking in through the door. **"Who is responsible for this?"** The dark side asked. "Now, let's not scare the pretty newcomer," The other side responded.

An awkward silence followed.

"Well, let's make some breakfast, eh, Risa-san?" Konan chuckled nervously.

Risa nodded as she followed Konan over to the counter. She felt Deidara and Hidan cleaning up the room and heard Zetsu mutter something about eating before leaving the kitchen. She stood there as she watched Konan make breakfast. "Are you going to help?" Konan asked while taking out a frying pan.

"Iie."

"Why?"

"…Because I don't want to."

Konan shrugged. "Alright, then."

After Konan finished making breakfast, they took all the food out to the kitchen, where the rest of the Akatsuki members were chatting while waiting for the food. Konan and Risa set the plates down on the table. Everybody started to eat.

"Risa-san, aren't you going to join us?" Konan asked as she sat down at a chair.

Everybody stared at Risa's back. "No thank you." And with that she left.

When she was out of hearing range, Kisame stared suspiciously at Itachi. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." Itachi kept on eating without looking up.

"…Doesn't seem like it."

"Shut up and eat." Of course, when Itachi said nothing, he meant everything. He was just as confused as Kisame and rest of the Akatsuki were. But what could he do? Risa obviously didn't want anything to do with him, seeing as she left immediately when she saw him. Itachi sighed inwardly. He had to do something about this.

**

* * *

**

Angel: Next chapter, there'll be more Itachi!! Whoot!

Itachi: And why is that?

Risa: 'Cause you love me.

Deidara: But I love you, too!! -glances around- Whoops, did I say that out loud?

Itachi: -glare- Back off.

Hidan: You don't say it like that. It's 'BACK THE FUCK OFF'!

Kakuzu: Why don't you SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Tobi: What does fuck mean?

Hidan: It means-

Pein: Hidan, shut up.

Zetsu: -mutters under his breath- I've eaten two guys today...

Sasori & Kisame & Konan: ...

Angel: Crazy idiots. -smiles- Well, thanks for reading! (I almost put eating there. xD)


	15. Day 2: Can't Escape

**CH 15**

Itachi finished the last of his breakfast, and he stood up and made his way out of the dining room, ignoring the cries of his partner. He walked to the hallway and closed his eyes, trying to sense Risa's chakra. When he was able to pinpoint her location, he quickly made his way to her. They needed to talk.

Risa was wandering around the Akatsuki hideout, trying to find where her room was. She needed to think, and she needed to think in a quiet place. She closed her eyes and followed her instincts, which led her to a certain somebody who was standing right outside her room. Risa's eyes snapped open when she felt his presence. Deciding to ignore him, she walked right past him, yet she was stopped by four words of his.

"We need to talk."

Risa turned around to face him. "What is there for us to talk about?" No doubt he knew that she knew what he was talking about, but Risa decided to play innocent for now.

"I'm sorry for what I did. You have to believe me." Itachi's voice lowered to a whisper.

Risa snorted. "Sure you are." Her expression softened a little. "Look, right now, there's a you and there's a me, but there's no us. You got that?" Risa looked into Itachi's blank face. "Forget about it. Forget about everything that happened."

"I can't!" Itachi's nearly shouted. "Do you seriously believe that I can forget everything I did? I had no choice! I was forced into doing them!"

"And you're expecting me to believe you right now?" Risa was in disbelief when she saw Itachi nod. "Are you serious? After you… left, I didn't trust anyone anymore. I didn't want to get betrayed by anyone anymore. And here you are again, asking me to forgive you. I'll be blunt with you, I'm not gonna let you back in that easily. The end. You can go now." She turned around and started walking into her room, only to be stopped by Itachi once again, but this time, instead of stopping, Risa pushed Itachi and way and stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Itachi groaned silently and slumped against the wall. What was he going to do to make her believe? She had to believe him, she just _had _to. He couldn't tell her anything, or else it would give everything away. He couldn't tell her how it was a mission of his to annihilate his clan. He couldn't tell her how he just wanted to end his life, but lived on so he could one day see her smile again. He just couldn't. Silently, Itachi made his way back to his room at the other side of the base. He needed to calm down and somehow find a way to make her listen to him, to trust him again. Yes, he was going to show her just how much he missed her. Itachi smiled grimly as he sat down on the silk sheets covering his bed. Oh yes, he was going to make her his again.

--

Risa, on the other hand, couldn't bring herself to calm down. She so close to breaking down in front of him. So close. If it wasn't for the image of Sasuke which kept popping into her head, she might have fallen for Itachi and his pretty words once again. Might have, but she didn't, and she never was going to ever again.

When she felt Itachi move away from her door, she walked over to her bed and sat down. She needed to do something. She needed to try and escape, to get back to Sasuke. Her brain quickly racked for ideas.

Minutes passed in complete silence. Suddenly, a grin crept onto Risa's face.

--

He thought of it, he thought of a way to talk to her. He was going to talk to her. Itachi stood up and walked out the door towards Risa's room. When he finally reached there, he hesitated for a moment before gently knocking on the door. There was no response. Starting to get worried, Itachi knocked a bit harder, but still, there was no movement on the other side of the door. He quickly opened the door and looked around. It was dark inside, and there was sign that Risa was in there.

Seconds later, his eyes snapped open as he realized her chakra wasn't anywhere in the Akatsuki hideout. That only meant one thing: Risa was gone. She had escaped. Itachi raced towards the nearest exit, hoping that that was the one she went out of.

--

Risa walked briskly down the corridor. It was time to put her plan into action. Now, she only needed to find the exit. And where would that be? She followed her instincts down the long hallway. There was an eerie silence in the Akatsuki base, but that was to be expected, since all the members were in the kitchen eating breakfast. Finally, after minutes of walking, Risa saw a light coming from the other end of the corridor.

With renewed hope, she sprinted towards the light and found herself outside. Risa closed her eyes and let the rays of sun hit her face, warming up her entire body. Who knew that it would be this easy to escape from the Akatsuki hideout? Risa's eyes snapped open. Right. That's what she was doing. Escaping. Without looking back, she jumped off into the trees, hoping to get away before anyone noticed that she was gone. And hopefully, nobody would come after her, but it's the Akatsuki we're talking about. Who knows what they're going to do?

--

His growl reverberated throughout the hallway. She has escaped. Itachi felt his eyes bleed red as he swiftly made his way to the outside world. She wasn't getting away from him again. A sense of protectiveness rushed through Itachi's head as he let instinct lead his way toward her. Her aura was shining brightly through the forest, and Itachi could detect it.

Finally, _finally, _he caught up to her. A snarl came out of his lips as he leaped forward to capture her. Risa, startled, jumped back, refusing to be caught again.

"Risa, you thought you could escape, didn't you? You thought wrong. Very wrong. Don't you remember Pein's words? You'll never be able to leave here alive. Come back, Risa, come back. I don't want to hurt you." Itachi moved closer, his eyes never leaving Risa's.

Risa felt herself back into a tree. Tears stung her eyes as she shook her head. "No… NO!! I'm not going back! Why, _why_ should I go back to you? You don't want to hurt me? It's too late! You've hurt me already!! You think you can make everything okay just by saying all those pretty words of yours, but you can't! It'll never go back to how it used to be like. IT WON'T!!" Risa's scream echoed through the forest, scaring away flocks of birds.

"Risa," Itachi eyes bore into hers, and Risa couldn't look away. "Gomen."

And the world turned black.

* * *

**A/N: SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY. My muse went missing for quite some time. :l And then, just tonight, I got it back. :D**

**Forgive me if this chapter was VERY OOC. And if there were lots of mistakes, well, this chapter wasn't beta-ed. I was so excited to get it out. :] So, feel free to criticize and flame. Personally, I find flames very amusing. I remember reading some quite awhile ago, before I stopped posting. I went to that person's account, and guess what? There were no stories. So, basically, that person has no life and lives to flame other peoples work. Too bad for them, then. =P**

**I've edited the other 14 chapters, but I don't know if I want to repost them. **

**Anyways, dun dun dun. Itachi's lost Risa's trust. And he's not going to get it back.  
****...  
****Jkay. xD**

**I'm also sorry for not saying this earlier, but thanks to all of those who reviewed. :] I reread them today, and it just motivated me even more to finish this story. xD So, again, THANKS. You guys are the best. :D**


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